PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Energy major Woodside on Wednesday announced that construction has started on the Pluto Train 2 project, marking a major milestone for the A$16-billion Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 development.

Pluto Train 2 will be the second liquefied natural gas (LNG) train at Woodside’s existing Pluto LNG onshore facility and will process gas from the Scarborough development.

The project will have a capacity of five-million tonnes a year, and additional gas infrastructure will be installed with capacity of 225 TJ/d.

The Pluto Train 2 project will support the export of around eight-million tonnes a year of LNG, and the delivery of around 1 400 PJ of gas to the Western Australian market, through a new domestic gas production facility to be built at the Pluto site.

The project will facilitate domestic gas supply from the Scarborough gasfield, securing the state's long-term energy needs, and unlock new industrial and downstream processing developments.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the start of construction on Pluto Train 2 was a key milestone towards the delivery of the Scarborough project, which would provide significant long-term economic growth and local employment opportunities for Western Australia and supply domestic and export markets for decades to come.

“Woodside is proud to build on the economic contribution that it has made over 35 years to communities in Western Australia. Many opportunities will be realised in Western Australia, providing a boost to long-term investment in education and training, growing jobs and bringing work through the supply chain.

“Scarborough gas processed through an expanded and efficient Pluto facility will support the decarbonisation goals of our customers in Asia,” she said.

The Pluto Train 2 Project will employ about 2 000 people at peak in 2024, with a large contingent of employees expected to be drawn from within Western Australia.

Western Australia State Development, Jobs and Trade Minister Roger Cook welcomed the start of construction.

“Western Australia is the main contributor to Australia's LNG exports, accounting for 56%. By itself, Western Australia is the world's third largest LNG exporter, with 12% of global LNG supply in 2021.

“Right now, we have a significant opportunity to further position the state as a safe and reliable supplier of LNG to the world, while strengthening our economy and delivering new local jobs.

“The development will support 3 200 new jobs over the four-year construction period, and 600 jobs once fully operational, including around 230 local jobs for the Karratha region,” Cook said.