Queenland has ruled Glencore-owned Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation’s Surat Basin Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project is unsuitable to proceed due to potential impacts on groundwater resources in the Great Artesian Basin.
The Department of Environment, Science and Innovation’s judgement followed a rigorous three-year assessment against the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019.
It found that the Precipice Sandstone aquifer in the Great Artesian Basin, where the project had proposed to inject captured CO2 for storage, is not a confined aquifer, which is a strict regulation requirement.
The assessment also found that CO2 injected into the aquifer ‘could migrate, likely causing irreversible or long-term change to groundwater quality and environmental values if the project were to proceed’.
This includes potential increased concentrations of contaminants including chloride, sulphate, salinity, various metals, and metalloids (including lead and arsenic).
Several submissions on the EIS confirmed that groundwater in the Precipice Sandstone holds environmental values, as it is used for agriculture, irrigation, and stock watering.
The department’s final decision on the EIS acknowledges the importance of the Great Artesian Basin to multiple stakeholders and makes it clear that other CCS projects will not be viable in the area.
The project aimed to demonstrate the effective permanent storage of captured CO2, transporting a greenhouse gas (GHG) stream by truck from the Millmerran Power Station for 260 km to the test injection site located on EPQ10, near Moonie.
The proposed test injection would have involved up to 110,000 tonnes per year for three years via the injection well into the precipice sandstone aquifer, between 2,250-2,350m underground.
In a video, Glencore said Queensland needs ‘all available options’ to transition to a low-carbon economy and reduce its emissions, in a state where coal and gas supply 80% of electricity generation. It said it would have applied proven injection and monitoring techniques from 30 CO2 projects worldwide.
Queensland has been busy embracing new energy technologies, recently announcing a new green iron project (click here) and opening a major electrolyser facility (click here). But the department’s ruling underlines the challenges of applying CCS technology at scale.
