One of world’s largest offshore carbon capture projects could be built in Cliff Head in first for Australia

Australia’s first offshore carbon capture and storage project could be one of the world’s biggest, and it could be here in the Mid West.

Energy companies Pilot Energy and Triangle Energy have announced it has lodged an application to start an offshore storage facility at Cliff Head, the first company to do so in Australia.

Offshore carbon capture and storage is a process of capturing, transporting and storing carbon dioxide under the sea floor to prevent it from polluting the atmosphere, and is a necessary part of fighting climate change according to Pilot Energy chair Brad Lingo.

“In the Victorian era we used to use our rivers as sewers, we don’t do that anymore and it improved environment health and safety, and we shouldn’t be treating our atmosphere the same way,” he said.

The Cliff Head CCS Project will inject 1.1Mtpa of CO2 into offshore reservoirs according to Pilot Energy, which would make it the eighth biggest CCS facility in the world.

The project is set to permanently store CO2 produced from industrial facilities below the ocean floor for at least the next 25 years, according to Pilot Energy.

In 2006 legislation was put in place to provide a pathway for carbon capture projects, but changing government policies meant a project hasn’t been pursued until now, according to Mr Lingo.

“We’ve had a lost decade there, and we’re trying to get back on track,” he said.

Mr Lingo said the Mid West was an excellent place for the project because of the existing oil platforms which will provide information on how to inject the CO2, and because the location of a large shale layer under the ocean floor helps keep the CO2 stored.