The recovered CO2 will be purified, liquefied and can then be re-used for various purposes including fire fighting, wine making, soft drink carbonation, food preservation and freezing.
Paul Zealand Origin Energy’s executive general manager, Upstream Oil & Gas, said, “Working with Air Liquide and supplying CO2 to their new and innovative CO2 recovery unit demonstrates our commitment to cleaner energy.”
From 2010, the Air Liquide CO2 recovery unit will re-use CO2 reducing overall CO2 emissions from Lang Lang by 25 %.
“Low emissions energy is a key part of Origin’s strategy for a sustainable future and is important to both us and our customers. The amount of CO2 that will be captured for re-use is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of more than 21,000¹ cars or 4,900 Australian homes²,” said Paul Zealand.
The CO2 recovery unit will be built by Air Liquide at a cost of nearly $20 million. The Australian market in industrial applications for carbon dioxide represents 200,000 tonnes per year and has been growing steadily by 4 % annually driven by food industries and water treatment.
Origin Energy and its joint venturers in BassGas invested $750 million in developing the BassGas project that provides gas, condensates and LPG from the Yolla field situated 147 kilometres off Victoria’s south east coast. Gas is processed onshore at the Lang Lang gas plant, 100 kilometres east of Melbourne; Origin Energy has a 42.5 % interest in the project.
Participants in the BassGas joint venture are:
Origin Energy and subsidiaries – 42.5% (Operator);
AWE and subsidiaries – 42.5%;
CalEnergy -15%.
