A raft of APPEA member companies is working together to develop a path towards rapid emissions reductions across the energy sector.

Woodside, Santos, INPEX, Origin Energy, Eni, and Xodus recently formed a consortium with the CSIRO and Northern Territory Government to assess the viability of a large-scale carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) hub outside Darwin.

According to APPEA Northern Territory director Cassy Schmidt, the hub, if realised, could create a blueprint for future low emissions hubs around Australia.

“CCUS has the potential to deliver a step-change emissions reduction and is an important way to not only reduce emissions but create thousands of jobs in the process,” Ms Schmidt said.

“Australia has a natural competitive advantage to implement CCUS with known high quality, stable geological storage basins, existing infrastructure, world-class technical expertise and regulatory regimes.

“Hydrogen combined with CCS is an immense opportunity for Australia to fast-track its transition to a lower emissions economy.”

CSIRO chief executive officer Dr Larry Marshall said CSIRO was always looking for ways to bring business and government together to deliver a more sustainable future.

“If the Hub proceeds it could create new jobs and export pathways and give Australia a global advantage by pushing the boundaries of science and technology to
put home-grown innovation into real world demonstration projects, particularly through our Hydrogen Industry and Towards Net Zero missions,” Dr Marshall said.

INPEX vice president of growth Phil Granger said the company looked forward to progressing options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Ichthys Field
through the partnership.

“The INPEX-led Ichthys Join Venture is proud to explore sustainable energy solutions through the development of the Northern Territory Low Emissions Hub Business
Case,” Mr Granger said.

Earlier this year, INPEX formed a partnership with the Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre (FEnEx CRC) to fund research into the efficiency of LNG
production value chains, digital technologies, and new hydrogen energy and export to market.

FEnEx CRC, headquartered in WA and facilitated by the WA Government’s LNG Jobs Taskforce, is a collaboration between industry, government, and research
institutions to find solutions for producing clean and sustainable energy in Australia.

State Development Minister Roger Cook said that establishing WA as a global LNG hub would create opportunities for investment, innovation and new jobs in the industry.

“As well as helping to sustain WA’s position as a leading global LNG exporter, the FEnEx CRC’s research program will help position us to become a leading global
hydrogen exporter, as markets and technology change over the coming decade,” Mr Cook said.

The Australian Government recently awarded grants for companies involved with carbon capture, use and storage.

The Carbon Capture, Use and Storage Hubs and Technologies Program – Technologies Stream grant awarded funding of up to $30 million to help deploy CCUS at
scale, aiming to:

• Reduce the costs of CCUS technology adoption and deployment
• Increase deployment of commercial-scale CCUS assets and infrastructure in Australia
• Increase domestic and international collaboration on, and industry investment in, CCUS technologies
• Increase domestic and export markets for CCUS technologies, products and services
• Identify new viable CO2 storage sites in Australia, or increase the understanding of the commercial viability of known CO2 storage sites in Australia
• Increase knowledge and capabilities in CCUS in Australia
• Support the development of Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs or clean LNG production facilities.

Return to eNews