Located on Eyre Peninsula’s Spencer Gulf, Whyalla is the epicentre for South Australia to scale up renewable energy and future hydrogen projects.

Whyalla and the Upper Spencer Gulf region has abundant sun and wind, a willing workforce, and proximity to energy-intensive industries who require hydrogen to decarbonise their operations.

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC)

Before construction and operation projects begin they must meet a range of regulatory approvals.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) protects certain nationally significant (protected) animals, plants, habitats or places. These include listed threatened and migratory species, as well as heritage sites, marine areas and some wetlands.

In October 2024, the Hydrogen Jobs Plan project referral was granted approval under the EPBC Act.

In February 2025, a decision was made to defer the Hydrogen Jobs Plan project. Early site works had commenced so the EPBC approval with conditions will continue to be upheld and managed by the Government of South Australia.

The EPBC assessment concluded the project could have a significant residual impact on the Western Grasswren (Amytornis textilis myall), a small bird native to arid regions of South Australia, that play a crucial role in the local ecosystem.

Protecting this species and its habitat is a priority, and the approval stipulates conditions to ensure that these measures are implemented effectively and monitored over the life of the project.

As part of the EPBC approval conditions, the publication of approved plans (including current and superseded versions) is required. These published plans can be viewed below:

Further information on the project approval with conditions (external site) (external site) (external site) (external site) (external site) is available on the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website.