Western Australia released a Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization Action Plan that include A$26 million ($16.9 million) in funding support, as it targets to leverage technology for supporting the energy transition, enhance policy certainty and aid the state's economic diversification plans.
"CCUS will play an important role for hard-to-abate industries, and we're positioning WA as a world-leader in CCUS technology," Premier Roger Cook said in the statement Nov. 21.
Key national frameworks, including the Future Gas Strategy, recognize the increasing role of CCUS. The move is also in line with the Western Australian government's commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Western Australia has several CCUS projects proposed for development over the next decade, with Japanese and South Korean companies actively exploring carbon capture and storage opportunities in the state.
If all the proposed major CCUS projects are developed, WA would have a capacity to store over 20 million mt/year of CO2, based on the initial capacities of these projects. This is around a quarter of the state's current total net emissions, it said in its CCUS Action Plan report released Nov. 21.
WA is already home to one of the largest operating CCS facilities in the world as part of the Gorgon LNG project.
The Gorgon CCS facility has stored 10 million mt CO2 since August 2019 and is expected to store more than 100 million mt over the project's lifetime.
In 2023, eight large-scale carbon capture facilities started operating in the US and China. There were around 45 commercial CCUS facilities operating worldwide, capturing over 50 million mt/year CO2, mainly from natural gas processing plants, according to the report.
There are 12 CCUS projects in operation and around 88 projects in development in the Asia-Pacific region.
While momentum is growing, the International Energy Agency has noted that CCUS deployment remains well below what is required under its Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. The IEA estimates that around 1 billion mt/year CO2 needs to be captured by 2030 for the world to be on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Key action plan areas
The Action Plan addresses six key areas: implementing a leading legislative and regulatory framework for CCUS; working with industry to enable and facilitate CCUS projects; information and knowledge sharing; supporting research, development, and demonstration with clear pathways to commerciality; engaging the aboriginals and community; as well as attracting investment and deepening strategic international partnerships.
The WA government has established a legislative framework for CCUS through the Petroleum Legislation Amendment Act 2024 and is developing regulations, procedures and guidance to support the reformed GHG legislation, it said.
It is also taking complementary action to streamline the approvals process for projects supporting the energy transition, it said.
To facilitate engagement between emitters, users, storers and transporters to improve supply chain coordination, data and knowledge sharing and collaboration across the entire CCUS value chain, WA will establish an ongoing government-industry engagement mechanism.
This would support the establishment of CCUS hubs across Western Australia, including around two major emissions clusters in the Pilbara and Kwinana areas.
The government will also investigate opportunities for CCUS in the decommissioning value chain.
It is also committed to providing better access to reliable and credible information relating to CCUS in a way that is easy to find and navigate.
"While the Western Australian Government currently shares a range of information relating to CCUS, it is dispersed across various online channels, legislation, reports, data and information, policy documents, and grants programs," it said.
"The Government will consolidate and streamline this information into a 'one-stop shop' to better support community understanding of CCUS and industry knowledge sharing."
Garnering industry support
"The International Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and CSIRO have all found that there is no pathway to net zero without the key emissions reduction technology of CCUS," the Australian Energy Producers said in a separate statement Nov. 21.
"The WA Government's CCUS Action Plan and funding support is evidence of how states can seize the economic opportunities of net zero while reducing emissions," Australian Energy Producers WA Director Caroline Cherry said.
The action plan will promote investment in CCUS, create new jobs and build a major new industry for Australia to cut emissions, she said.
"Without CCUS, industries like fertilizer and chemical production, iron and steel, and cement, will find it harder and more expensive to reach net zero," Cherry added.
