Western Australia allots land for Equus Energy's low carbon project

Western Australian government has allocated land in the Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area (ANSIA) to Equus Energy, a unit of Western Gas, for the development of low-carbon ammonia and methanol production, Western Gas said on January 6.

Equus is working with industry partners to support engineering design, production technologies and project financing, and will now progress discussions with DevelopmentWA to reach and finalise key terms for land tenure within the ANSIA, Western Gas said.

Equus will be able to access natural gas feedstock for ammonia and methanol production from Western Gas’ Equus gas project, located offshore in the Carnarvon Basin, approximately 200 km northwest of Onslow.

“Equus Energy plans to progressively combine renewable energy from solar and wind with the natural gas feedstock, lowering the project’s carbon intensity over time and transitioning towards green fuels production,” the company said.

Western Gas executive director Will Barker said that Equus Energy had been established to help deliver on the company’s vision for the transition to lower carbon energy. “Securing land within the Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area is a key step in harnessing the region’s abundant resources of natural gas, solar and wind energy to develop value adding downstream industries.”

Western Gas recently signed non-binding milestone agreements with the North West Shelf (NWS) project participants and Pluto LNG to process up to 3mn metric tons/year of gas from its Equus gas project for LNG export and the Western Australian market.