Santos says its carbon capture and storage plans are the most advanced in the nation as $50 million in funding up for grabs
Santos’s carbon capture and storage plans are already in train and set SA in good stead with $50 million in federal funding in play.
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Santos’s Moomba carbon capture and storage project is the “most advanced in Australia” and could play a key role in the shift to a hydrogen economy, the Adelaide company’s managing director Kevin Gallagher says.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s $1.9bn energy package, announced on Thursday,
includes a $50 million Carbon Capture Use and Storage Development Fund, to help the early-stage technology prove itself in the field.
Santos’s Moomba project is up against potential sites for a CCS hub including the Surat and Bowen basins in Queensland, waters off the Victorian coast, and the Browse and Carnarvon basins off the WA coast.
But Santos is already well progressed on plans for a CCS operation at Moomba in the state’s far northeast, and in July awarded a contract to GHD to develop a concept study for the project.
CCS involves injecting carbon dioxide into disused oil and gas reservoirs underground, for permanent storage.
Mr Gallagher has previously said CCS could be integral to making zero-emissions or “blue” hydrogen, which involved decarbonising natural gas at its source.
He told The Advertiser that South Australia is currently ahead of the curve both with CCS and other hydrogen projects.
“We want to be ready to take a final investment decision on our 1.7 million tonne per annum Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage Project by the end of this year, so the announcement that the Clean Energy Regulator will take over methodology development to enable CCS to generate carbon credits and halve methodology development times is very welcome.”
“Last year, Moomba celebrated its 50th birthday as a provider of reliable, affordable energy to the eastern seaboard. We are growing production in the Cooper Basin again, and that, combined with the Moomba CCS Project, has the potential to make Moomba a vital supplier of cleaner energy for Australia for another 50 years, supporting thousands of skilled, secure, well-paying jobs and decarbonising energy at its source.
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Mr Gallagher said CCS was the fastest and cheapest route to a hydrogen economy, and uses less water than other technologies.
“The support and forward-looking approach of the South Australian Government has ensured Moomba and Port Bonython are both on the map to take full advantage of the new and exciting opportunities enabled by the Morrison Government’s $1.9 billion clean energy package announced today,’’ he said.
The Advertiser reported on Thursday that the State Government and Whyalla steelworks owner GFG Alliance were strongly supportive of the Upper Spencer Gulf being the location of a $70 million hydrogen hub, which was another of the projects envisaged under the Prime Minister’s plan.
That process would also pit a number of locations across the nation against each other for the right to host it.
The Prime Minister also announced $1.42bn for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to invest over 10 years in new energy technology.
The Federal Government will seek legislative changes so ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation can support projects beyond renewables and clean energy, such as carbon capture and storage and green steel production.
The suite of changes will need to pass parliament, which means the government will need crossbench support if Labor opts not to back it.