PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner Glencore has announced that its joint venture partners Marubeni Corporation and Electric Power Development Co (J-Power) will each fund A$10-million in Glencore’s CTSCo carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Queensland.
The CTSCo project aims to demonstrate CCS technology and focuses on capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Millmerran coal-fired power station and permanently storing it deep underground in a dedicated storage site 100 km from the power station.
CTSCo has the potential to store significant volumes of CO2 to reduce existing and future sources of industrial emissions, which could improve energy security for the national electricity market, maintain and grow jobs in regional Queensland and enable future industries including hydrogen production, while also contributing to Australian and Queensland government climate and emission reduction goals, Glencore said.
A comprehensive environmental impact statement for the project is currently in progress, working towards the commencement of CO2 injection in 2025.
“We are happy to be able to participate in the first CCS project in Australia to capture CO2 from a coal-fired power plant,” said Marubeni Materials Group group CEO Jun Horie.
“CCS is an important technology in enabling a carbon neutral economy worldwide, not to mention Japan. We hope to bring back what we learn from this project to contribute to the industry’s emission reduction goals.”
J-Power executive VP Hiroyasu Sugiyama said that promoting CCS projects would be critical technology to achieve net-zero-emissions not only for the power sector but various sectors.
“We are glad to be a member of this project. We believe that the practical application of CCS and the technology will contribute to decarbonization in Australia and all over the world as well.”
Glencore head of global coal assets Earl Melamed has welcomed the investment by the company’s joint venture partners.
“CTSCo is one of the most advanced onshore CCS projects in Australia and has the potential to store significant volumes of CO2 from a number of industries while playing an important role in deploying this critical emission reduction technology and bringing down its costs. Marubeni and J-POWER are long-term investors in the Australian resources sector and their involvement in our project further highlights the potential for CCS to materially reduce emissions in Queensland.”
Glencore has ambitions to be a net-zero total emissions company by 2050, and in August of last year, increased its medium-term emissions reduction target to a 50% reduction by 2035, and introduced a new short-term target of a 15% reduction by 2026.