MELBOURNE, Australia – Esso Australia has started early front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) studies into potential carbon capture and storage to cut emissions from local industries close to the Gippsland basin in southeast Australia.
The South East Australia carbon capture and storage (SEA CCS) hub would initially make use of existing infrastructure to store CO2 in the depleted Bream field offshore Victoria.
Esso Australia is in talks with various parties interested in accessing the proposed hub to reduce emissions from their operations.
The goal is to capture up to 2 MM metric tons/yr of CO2, with the facilities potentially operational by 2025.
Last month the company revealed that construction had started of a new Air Liquide facility designed to capture and reuse CO2 extracted from Gippsland gas has commenced.
Esso Australia will capture and send excess CO2 from the Longford gas conditioning plant to Air Liquide, which will process and provide the gas in various forms to Australian businesses. The company operates the Gippsland basin joint venture, in partnership with BHP Petroleum (Bass Strait).
