Baker Hughes said it will provide the turbomachinery equipment for the Santos-operated Moomba carbon capture and storage project in Australia’s onshore Cooper basin.
The project includes a gas processing plant and plans to store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year in depleted natural gas reservoirs, potentially reaching 20 million tpa of stored carbon dioxide with later development stages.
The US energy services company said it will supply gas turbine, compressor, and heat recovery steam generator technologies to compress the captured carbon dioxide for transportation, injection and storage.
“This project exemplifies the range of solutions that energy and industrial companies are seeking across the energy transition and how collaboration is needed to lower emissions and enhance efficiencies from their operations,” said Rod Christie, executive vice president of Turbomachinery & Process Solutions at Baker Hughes.
“Through our advanced turbomachinery technology, we are supporting Santos to decarbonize natural gas while providing an opportunity to utilize CO2 as a valuable input for producing reliable energy with advanced blue hydrogen.”
A final investment decision on the $165 million (A$220 million) Moomba CCS project was reached in November, with startup expected in 2024.
After the Australian government released its method for qualifying CCS projects under the country’s carbon credits programme in October, Santos said it registered its project with the Clean Energy Regulator, which allows the project to qualify for Australian Carbon Credit Units for 25 years.
The cost of carbon for the project is projected at $24 per tonne, low compared to estimates in the US of $46 to $107 per tonne, which depends on the source of carbon.
