Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers’ (WesCEF’s) carbon capture and storage project (CCS) with Mitsui E&P Australia – Cygnus CCS Hub – has been announced as one of two recipients of the WA Government’s inaugural Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Action Plan.

The project will receive $11 million in support to advance the Hub, which is located in the Mid West of WA.

Cygnus CCS will utilise depleted gas reservoirs in the Mid West to store carbon dioxide emissions from WesCEF’s CSBP Ammonia plant in Kwinana and from Mitsui E&P Australia’s Waitsia Gas Plant.

The Premier of Western Australia, Hon Roger Cook, and Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Hon David Michael, announced the grant as they jointly released the State’s first Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Action Plan.

WesCEF General Manager Climate Opportunities & Environment, Mussaret Nagree, said the grant demonstrated how industry and government could work together to tackle climate change effectively.

“CCS is a proven technology that has been operating in many countries for many years,” Ms Nagree explained. “After capturing emission at the source, the carbon dioxide is transported to a suitable geological location, where it is injected underground for safe, long-term storage.

“The rock in an exhausted field has held pressurised natural gas for millions of years, so we know that it should safely store carbon dioxide indefinitely and results from our initial testing are very encouraging.”

The full announcement can be read online: Action plan to drive WA’s CCUS future | Western Australian Government.