Four projects were moved to the next stage of assessment in the $2 billion Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Flagships Program in December.
Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson also released the Carbon Storage Taskforce National Carbon Mapping and Infrastructure Plan.
The Federal Government will now spend up to $120 million on pre-feasibility work to further assess the projects.
The Wandoan power plant project northwest of Brisbane generates 334 MW and aims to store up to 2.5 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum. The ZeroGen power plant project west of Gladstone in Queensland, generates 400 MW and aims to store up to two mega tonnes of CO2 per annum.
The Collie South West Hub project southwest of Perth aims to store up to 3.3 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum, captured from surrounding industry including coal-fired power plants. Also, the CarbonNet project in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley is looking to store between three and five mega tonnes of CO2 per annum, captured from coal-fired power plants in the region.
These projects will build on a range of other CCS technology development and demonstration projects, in particular the Delta Post Combustion Capture project in NSW. The Delta project has an in principle commitment of $50 million each from the Federal Government, the NSW Government and the Australian Coal Association.
The $2 billion CCS Flagships Program was announced in the 2009-10 Budget and is part of the Federal Government’s $4.5 billion Clean Energy Initiative.
The CCS Flagships Program will make an important contribution to the G8 goal of at least 20 large-scale integrated CCS projects globally by 2020.
