Santos' planned decarbonisation hubs
Moomba CCS
- Project location: South Australia (Eastern Australia Hub)
- Annual gross CO2 storage potential: 20 MtCO2e
- FID: 2021
- First injection timing estimate: mid 2024
Darwin and Bayu-Undan CCS
- Project location: Northern Australia / Timor-Leste
- Annual gross CO2 storage potential: 10 MtCO2e
- Targeted FID: 2025
- First injection timing estimate: 2028
Western Australia CCS
- Project location: Western Australia
- Annual gross CO2 storage potential: up to 5 MtCO2e
- Targeted FID: 2025
- First injection timing estimate: 2028
Surging demand
- Signed Memorandum of Understandings with various third parties, for proposed storage of CO2 at Bayu-Undan CCS and Moomba CCS hubs.
- Entered into agreements with Osaka Gas Australia and several Japanese Utilities to investigate the potential for producing carbon-neutral e-methane.
Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage Project
The Moomba CCS project is designed to leverage existing processing capability at Moomba and existing infrastructure associated with depleted reservoirs in the Cooper Basin.
The project is targeting full lifecycle cost of approximately US$24 per tonne of CO2 which would deliver one of the lowest cost CCS projects globally.
Santos is also investing in direct air capture (DAC) technology. If successful, DAC will have the ability to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere at existing CCS locations.
By capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently storing it, it provides a pathway to offset unavoidable CO2 emissions or remove legacy emissions from the atmosphere.
Santos continues to electrify its operations and integrate the use of renewable energy as an alternative to traditional gas-fired or diesel fuel sources.
The Moomba Electrification Project is a $350 million (gross) three-phase project aimed at simplifying operations and reducing emissions from our Cooper Basin operations.
In addition to the Moomba Electrification Project, we have completed, or are progressing, a number of other projects that will introduce renewable energy and battery power into our operations. These include:
- The GLNG Upstream Electrical Convert project, converting two of the Fairview Hub Four compressors from gas drive to electric drive
- Installation of solar and battery power at our Cook and Limestone Creek camps
- Approval for a tender to deliver an 80MW behind the-meter solar farm to support our Roma Gas processing facilities
- A feasibility assessment of expanding the solar farm installed at Port Bonython.
Carbon capture and storage
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is critical to achieving Net Zero.
According to the International Energy Agency “Australia is well-suited to large-scale deployment of CCS to facilitate domestic CO2 abatement and support regional emissions reductions.”*
At Santos we want to capitalise on this advantage, and we are making real investments to accelerate CCS deployment. Santos is pursuing a three-hub CCS strategy within Australia to give Santos the ability to store carbon dioxide emitted from our own operations as well as carbon dioxide that is generated from third parties.
Currently CCS is one of the few technologies that offers significant storage quantities of emissions abatement in the near term, while leveraging Santos’ operational expertise and existing asset infrastructure.
CCS is the centrepiece of Santos’ decarbonisation strategy, meeting the global demand for decarbonisation services and facilities whilst laying the foundation for the low carbon fuels of the future.
*IEA 2023. Australia 2023 Energy Policy Review.
Fast facts
- CCS is considered a key pillar of decarbonisation[1] by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
- The technology is mature, commercially available, and is necessary for achieving net-zero.[2]
- Investment in CCS has already doubled to hit a record high of $6.4 billion in 2023.[3]
- Santos’ CCS projects are expected to achieve large-scale emission reductions at low cost.
- There are more than 40 CCS projects in operation around the world, storing nearly 50 million tonnes per annum of CO2.[4]
[1] IEA 2023. Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the 1.5C Goal In reach.
[2] IEA 2023. Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the 1.5C Goal In reach.
[3] WEF, The Global Risks Report 2024, page 48.
[4] Global CCS Institute 2023. Global Status of CCS 2023: Scaling up through 2030.
Global CCS projects*
CCS is already happening around the world. There are currently 41 operating facilities with a cumulative capture capacity of nearly 50 million tonnes per annum.
In addition, there are over 350 facilities across all stages of development and across a range of sectors.
*Global CCS Institute 2023. Global Status of CCS 2023: Scaling up through 2030.
What is carbon capture and storage?
Natural gas is an abundant, reliable and low-cost energy source that is used in power generation, cooking and heating, powering vehicles, and as a key ingredient in manufacturing everyday materials used to build our homes and appliances. It is formed naturally and is trapped in rock formations deep underground.
When natural gas is produced or used for industry or to create energy, carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced as a by-product. CCS is the process of capturing CO2 then storing it deep underground, often in the reservoirs that previously held oil and gas in place for tens of millions of years.
The use of depleted oil and gas reservoirs are ideal geologic storage sites, providing confidence in their ability to permanently store CO2.
