Aspiring power generation company Aviva Corporation and ARC Energy have agreed to partner up to study the potential for sequestration of carbon dioxide in depleted oil and gas reservoirs in the North Perth Basin.
As a first step, ARC Energy will join the existing study commissioned by Aviva and being conducted by CO2CRC Technologies, which is investigating sequestration sites for future emissions from Aviva's planned 400MW Coolimba Power Project in the Mid West region.
Aviva's Chief Executive Officer Lindsay Reed welcomed the participation of ARC Energy in the milestone study. He said ARC Energy's experience in, and knowledge of, oil and gas reservoirs in the Mid West region of Western Australia would significantly enhance the study.
The CO2CRC is one of the world's leading collaborative research organisations focused on carbon dioxide capture and geological storage (geosequestration).
"The North Perth Basin offers potentially the most promising sites in WA, if not Australia, for sequestration of carbon dioxide, and this study puts WA at the forefront of tackling greenhouse gas emissions from power stations and other industrial projects," Mr Reed said.
Aviva is currently developing the Coolimba Power Project, a $1 billion investment based on a 400MW coal fired power station 20km south of Eneabba, which will be key to unlocking the considerable economic potential of the Mid West region by powering local development.
"Coolimba will establish Eneabba as an energy hub in the Mid West, balancing Collie in the State's south and Kwinana in the metropolitan area," Mr Reed said.
"But the other exciting thing about this project is the opportunity for it to become Australia's first and largest commercial "carbon capture" project, through sequestering and storing its future carbon dioxide emissions."
ARC Energy's Executive Director-Operations, Gary Jeffery expressed ARC's eagerness to extract practical outcomes from the relationship with Aviva.
"There are many opportunities for both companies to gain from working together as neighbours and partners," Mr Jeffery said.
In particular, the geosequestration studies will also examine the use of carbon dioxide to enhance hydrocarbon recoveries from ARC Energy's mature oil and gas fields.
