The Morrison Government is backing six new carbon capture projects to accelerate the development of the technology in Australia, boosting its role in reducing emissions and supporting new economic opportunities and job creation.

Six companies have been awarded a share in the Government’s $50 million Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) Development Fund.

The successful applicants are:

• Santos Limited – up to $15 million towards the low-cost capture and storage of CO2 emitted from Santos’s Moomba LNG operations for permanent storage in the Cooper Basin, South Australia. The project is expected to store 1.7 million tonnes per annum on an ongoing basis.
• Mineral Carbonation International – up to $14.6 million towards the construction of a mobile demonstration plant that captures and uses CO2 to produce manufacturing and construction materials, such as concrete, plasterboard and fire-retardant materials on Kooragang Island, New South Wales.
• Energy Developments Pty Ltd – up to $9 million towards the capture and use of CO2 emitted from the production of biomethane at landfill sites across multiple locations across Australia for use in cement carbonation curing.
• Carbon Transport and Storage Company – up to $5 million to demonstrate the viability of carbon capture and storage from a coal-fired power station in Queensland and support the development of a geological storage basin in the Surat Basin.
• Corporate Carbon Advisory Pty Ltd – up to $4 million towards Australia’s first demonstration of a direct-air-capture (DAC) and storage project to geologically sequester CO2 in an existing injection well in Moomba, South Australia.
• Boral Limited – up to $2.4 million towards a pilot scale carbon capture and use project to improve the quality of recycled concrete, masonry and steel slag aggregates at New Berrima, New South Wales.

Together, these projects will create close to 470 direct jobs and deliver $412 million of investment, much of this in regional areas. 

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the overwhelming demand for funding through the CCUS Development Fund was further proof of the viability and importance of carbon capture technologies.

“We received funding applications to support $1.2 billion of investment in carbon capture projects and technologies,” Minister Taylor said.

“The projects we have supported through this program include a number of exciting, Australian-first technology demonstrations.

“Analysis by the International Energy Agency shows that half the global reductions required to achieve net zero will come from technologies that are not yet ready for commercial deployment.

“That’s why we’re partnering with industry to accelerate new projects and unlock the emissions and economic benefits of carbon capture technology.

“The IEA and IPCC both regard carbon capture technologies as essential to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

“Australia already has the world’s largest carbon capture facility of its kind, and this is one of five priority areas for future investment under the Government’s Technology Investment Roadmap.”

The CCUS Development Fund is part of the Government’s $1.9 billion new energy technologies package announced in the 2020-21 Budget. The $1.9 billion package included resourcing to support the development of a CCS method for the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF), which is expected to be completed later this year.

The Government is committed to supporting the commercial deployment of CCUS and its uptake. 

Further funding opportunities are available through the $263.7 million announced in the 2021-22 Budget for CCUS projects, hubs and technologies and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Media contact:

Minister Taylor's office: 02 6277 7120