Santos, APA Group to advance CO2 infrastructure in eastern Australia

Energy producer Santos has joined forces with Australian energy infrastructure business APA Group to explore the development of CO2 infrastructure throughout eastern Australia, it said on November 22.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to assess decarbonisation opportunities by connecting heavy CO2 emitters and/or CO2 import locations to Santos's carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Moomba, South Australia.

This collaboration will involve evaluating CCS pipeline transport routes from key emission sources in Gladstone, Port Bonython, and Greater Sydney to the Moomba CCS facility in the Cooper basin.

The Moomba CCS project, the most advanced of Santos's three planned CCS hubs in Australia, holds the potential to store up to 1.7mn tonnes/year of CO2 in Phase 1. This volume is equivalent to more than a quarter of the emissions reduction achieved in Australia's electricity sector over the full year to March 2023, according to Santos.

The actual volumes stored at Moomba CCS will depend on gas production levels in the Cooper basin, which will determine the available volume of CO2 for storage. The first injection is on track to commence in 2024.

Santos Energy Solutions executive vice president Alan Stuart-Grant said that working with APA will position Santos as a leader in providing large-scale, low-cost CCS services to domestic and international emitters.

"This MoU not only presents a near-term carbon abatement opportunity but also lays the groundwork for Moomba to evolve into a low-carbon fuels hub as technology advances and market demand intensifies during the energy transition. We are committed to delivering reliable, affordable, and lower-carbon energy to our customers," he stated.