The Top End
The Top End region encompasses the northernmost section of the Territory, an area of 112,295 square kilometres, including West Daly, West Arnhem, the Tiwi Islands and the Top End Rural area. The region has a significant portion of land surrounding Darwin and Palmerston cities, classified as unincorporated land.
The Greater Darwin region includes the cities of Darwin and Palmerston, the Litchfield Shire, East Arm and Robertson Barracks.
The combined regions are home to more than 167,000 people.
The Territory ambition is to achieve a $40 billion economy by 2030. In order to realise this potential, it is projected that 35,000 new jobs will be created over the coming years.
Noting anticipated population growth, a range of affordable housing projects are underway and land releases for residential development are essential to support economic development.
The Northern Territory Government has invested over $40 million in the 2023-24 budget to support expedited residential land releases in the Top End, Katherine in the Big Rivers region and in Tennant Creek in the Barkly region, for residential development.
Across the greater Darwin area, there are over 3,400 lots in the hand of developers which could support a high growth scenario.
Combined with over 11,000 lots identified in the Greater Holtze Area Plan, the Territory is capable of sustaining the supply of serviced land to meet demand under a high growth scenario.
Major industries in the region include tourism, horticulture and forestry.
Minerals found in the Top End
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Activity in your region
Company: INPEX
Project: Ichthys LNG
Product: Natural Gas
Overview:
Ichthys LNG is ranked among the most significant energy projects in the world. The energy development is a joint venture between INPEX group companies (the Operator), major partner TotalEnergies, and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, JERA and Toho Gas.
A Final Investment Decision for Ichthys LNG was reached in 2012 and production commenced in July 2018.
Ichthys LNG produces up to 9.3 million tonnes of LNG and 1.65 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with more than 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.
It is one of the few energy projects worldwide to incorporate the whole chain of development and production: subsea, offshore, pipeline and onshore.
Gas and condensate from the Ichthys Field is exported to onshore facilities for processing near Darwin, via an 890-kilometre pipeline. Most condensate is directly shipped to global markets from a floating production, storage and offloading facility permanently moored near the Ichthys Field in the Browse Basin.
INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG community contributions:
- Commitment to local goods and services procurement, supporting local businesses and communities during Ichthys LNG construction and operations.
- AUD$14 billion increase in real incomes for Territorians and AUD$118 billion boost in economic output in the Territory over Ichthys LNG’s 40-year operational life.
- Supported the establishment of training and education institutions in the Territory such as AUD$3 million funding towards the construction of the NT School of Distance Education, which supports more than 400 senior secondary students in remote areas across the Territory.
- An estimated 600 Territory jobs will be created per year for 40 years (equivalent to 100 small businesses being established in the Territory).
- INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG engages an average of approximately 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through contractors.
- AUD$2.6 billion in taxation revenue for the NT Government over the 10-year study period according to an independent assessment by ACIL Allen.
- Founded AUD$24 million the Larrakia Ichthys LNG Foundation Trust (LIFT) to support Larrakia people over the anticipated 40-year life of INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG.
- Supports education and health/wellbeing of people and capacity building of local businesses through community partnerships. Find out more: Community investment | INPEX
How many people are employed: 600+
Project lifetime: 40 years of multi-generational employment opportunities anticipated.
Environmental management: INPEX is working to supporting positive outcomes in the communities where the company operates and contributing to sustainable social, economic and environmental development. More information about INPEX’s environmental management can be found at: https://www.inpex.com.au/projects/ichthys-lng/our-commitments/
Working towards net-zero: INPEX is actively working to support a cleaner energy future and the country’s net-zero goals, as mapped out in INPEX Vision@2022 PDF (3.0 MB), The Territory remains a focal point for INPEX and will play a critical role in the company’s decarbonisation strategy. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a critical way forward for INPEX and a CCS Hub in Darwin is being considered with the support of the Australian and Northern Territory governments and CSIRO.
In mid-2022, INPEX and the Northern Territory Government formally acknowledged mutual targets to transition to a net-zero carbon emissions future, following the signing of a joint “Statement of Commitment” in Tokyo. This shared commitment is underpinned by a mutual recognition that the Territory is perfectly poised to become a clean energy hub – and INPEX aims to play a key role in this.
Project: Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct
Proponents:
- Total Eren Green Hydrogen
- Tivan Critical Minerals
- Tamboran Resources Limited
- Fortescue Future Industries
- Avenira
Minerals/Products: Green Hydrogen, Natural Gas, mineral processing
Overview:
The Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct (MASDP) is a global-first industrial precinct powered mainly by renewables, master-planned to achieve sustainable and responsible production, and use technology to achieve low-to-zero emissions.
From the planning and development process to the industries it attracts, MASDP is a blueprint for the future of Australian industry – sustainable, modern and high-tech.
The Precinct is located on the Middle Arm Peninsula of Darwin Harbour. It is planned to be a ‘development-ready' location for investment - especially renewables and low-emission energy and fuels, advanced manufacturing, and low-emissions minerals processing.
Middle Arm Peninsula is already home to the Santos Darwin LNG and the INPEX Ichthys LNG processing facilities – both companies are committed to net-zero emissions.
The Precinct is designed to take advantage of the Territory's natural assets, including our strategic location and world-class solar resources. Almost all critical minerals required for manufacturing renewable energy components are available in the Territory.
In 2022, the Australian Government allocated $1.5 billion funding through an equity approach for shared enabling infrastructure at Middle Arm, such as loading and storage facilities, jetties and extending the shipping channel - in partnership with the Territory Government.
MASDP community contribution:
- Forecasts show that if Australian hydrogen becomes the energy of the future, by 2050, GDP is estimated to be $26 billion higher than a business-as-usual scenario, with an added 16,900 full-time equivalent jobs.
- If the Territory were to capture a similar proportion of Australia's hydrogen production as it already has for Natural Gas, it could mean $3.7 billion in growth and an extra 2,500 jobs.
- Collectively, projects within the Middle Arm Sustainability Development Precinct represent tens of billions of dollars in capital investment and more than 20,000 jobs in the Territory.
How many people will be employed: 20,000+
Company: Santos
Project: Barossa/ DLNG Life Extension Project
Product: Natural Gas
Overview:
The Darwin LNG plant (DLNG) is a single train liquefaction and storage facility at Wickham Point on Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. DLNG receives gas from the Bayu-Undan field in the Timor Sea and converts it into LNG.
DLNG was commissioned in 2006 and has a design life of 2027. Bayu-Undan produced its first gas in 2004 and is now approaching the end of field life.
Barossa is an offshore gas and light condensate project 300 kilometres north of Darwin. It will provide a new gas source to the DLNG facility once the supply from Bayu-Undan has been exhausted.
The DLNG Life Extension Project seeks to utilise the shutdown window created by Bayu-Undan end-of-life to prepare the DLNG facility for backfill from the Barossa field by undertaking several brownfield work packages.
Santos’ community contribution:
In 2022, Santos achieved:
- $37.1 million NT Local Spend
- $211,000 Community investment
- 100 Darwin employees, 100% live locally
- Invested in local community programs such as City2Surf NT, Clontarf, and Stars Foundations
- A 20 per cent increase in Australian Indigenous employees across 2022.
- Continued support for the Clontarf and STARS Foundations' programs which helped approximately 1,500 Australian Indigenous students successfully participate in secondary school engagement and retention programs.
- Supported a group of vulnerable and at-risk Aboriginal youth from Alice Springs to participate in an outback leadership program with Operations Flinders.
- Spent $6.3 million directly with Australian Indigenous enterprises. Additionally, our 2022 contractor survey highlighted a further $5.3 million spend with Australian Indigenous service providers engaged by our contractor partners.
How many people are employed: 600 local jobs through construction, and hundreds more over the next two decades.
Project lifetime: Plans underway to extend beyond original design life by 20+ years
