MoU for carbon capture
CTSCo and Huaneng sign agreement for Millmerran trial
THE development of a carbon capture utilisation and storage project on the Darling Downs is moving ahead, with China Huaneng Group and Glencore’s Carbon Capture Transport and Storage Company signing a memorandum of understanding.
Reaching agreement on the MoU earlier this week, both companies committed to supporting the deployment of low emissions technologies like CCUS to reduce greenhouse emissions from the use of fossil fuels and other industrial processes, beginning with CTSCo’s project at the Millmerran Power Station.
The CTSCo project will use China Huaneng’s CO2 capture technology at the Millmerran coal fired power station to capture a stream of CO2 which will then be transported and stored permanently in a non-potable aquifer at a depth of more than two kilometres.
The CTSCo project is Australia’s most advanced onshore CCUS project and will demonstrate CCUS at an industrial scale.
The trial could hold the key to transforming the southern Surat Basin into a hub for reducing southeast Queensland’s carbon emissions.
In December 2019, the Queensland Government granted CTSCo a greenhouse gas exploration permit near the Moonie oilfields.
It followed the company’s original plans – since shelved – to perform a test injection into a potable aquifer 1200m deep at a Glencore-owned property 15km west of Wandoan. Key project participants include Glencore, China Huaneng, Low Emission Technology Australia, Australia National Low Emissions Coal Research and Development and the Australian Government.