Investment in Victoria’s clean coal industry
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30 April 2008
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Victoria is positioning itself as a leader in the clean coal industry, with a $127.4 million boost from the Victorian Government to support a series of carbon capture and storage projects in the state.
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Victorian Premier John Brumby announced a $110 million fund to establish new large-scale, pre-commercial Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) demonstration projects and $12.2 million to create Clean Coal Victoria in the Latrobe Valley, an organisation dedicated to maximising the value of Victoria’s brown coal resources.
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A further $5.2 million will go towards investigating carbon storage sites in the Gippsland basin to better understand carbon storage potential through research and modelling of the region’s geology.
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“We are taking action now to ensure Victoria can continue using its world-class brown coal and gas resources to generate affordable and reliable energy and to capitalise on emerging clean coal opportunities,” Mr Brumby said.
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The CCS demonstration project is part of the Victorian Government’s second generation Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) and will take the Government’s total clean coal investment to over $244 million since 2002. The aim of these investments is to assist power stations such as Loy Yang at Traralgon to reduce and ultimately eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions.
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The additional $110 million builds on previous clean coal announcements for projects such as the Latrobe Valley Post Combustion Project at Loy Yang.
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“This pilot project which received State Government funding of $2.5 million under ETIS last year will be the first project in Australia to capture carbon dioxide from coal fired electricity generation and will capture up to 1000 tonnes of Co2 per year,” Mr Brumby said.
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The Latrobe Valley Post Combustion Project was a joint collaboration between Loy Yang Power, International Power Hazelwood, government and researchers from the CO2CRC (including Monash and Melbourne Universities) and the CSIRO.
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Minister for Energy and Resources, Peter Batchelor said the clean coal projects would involve working in partnership with industry and the Commonwealth to demonstrate carbon capture and storage technologies from power plants on an industrial scale.
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“Groups like the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have endorsed carbon capture storage as a key element in managing greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Batchelor said.
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“In positioning Victoria as a global leader in carbon capture technology, we will also ensure we are well-equipped to capitalise on new and emerging markets.
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“The first ETIS initiative attracted over $1.2 billion in investment and we would expect this next commitment to do even better in securing the future of the Latrobe Valley, including attracting significant overseas investment.”
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Mr Batchelor said Clean Coal Victoria would be based in the Latrobe Valley and would focus on identifying future coal resources, planning for long-term brown coal use and rehabilitation.
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“Clean Coal Victoria will develop strategic resource plans to manage Victoria’s valuable coal resources, developing detailed information about our current resources and undertake test drilling to determine the quality and quantity of brown coal resources in under-explored areas.
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“The new organisation will ensure our brown coal resources are protected for future generations, helping to reduce land-use conflicts and will play a key role in working with the community and industry to attract new investment and economic growth in areas such as the coal-rich Latrobe Valley.”
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