Origin has outlined plans to capture more than one quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO2) output of the Lang Lang BassGas gas plant for commercial reuse.

Origin, on behalf of the joint venturers in the BassGas project, AWE and CalEnergy, has signed an agreement with Air Liquide to supply CO2 to a new recovery unit which will be constructed at the Lang Lang gas plant in Gippsland, Victoria. The CO2 recovered will be purified, liquefied and can then be re-used for various purposes including fire fighting, wine making, soft drink carbonation, food preservation and freezing.

Origin’s Executive General Manager, Upstream Oil & Gas, Paul Zealand said, “Working with Air Liquide and supplying CO2 to their new and innovative CO2 recovery unit demonstrates our commitment to cleaner energy.”

From 2010, the Air Liquide CO2recovery unit will re-use CO2 reducing overall CO2 emissions from Lang Lang by 25 per cent.

“Low emissions energy is a key part of Origin’s strategy for a sustainable future and is important to both us and our customers. The amount of CO2 that will be captured for re-use is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of more than 21,000¹ cars or 4,900 Australian homes²,” said Paul Zealand.

The CO2 recovery unit will be built by Air Liquide, the world leader in gases for industry, health and the environment and the leader in the CO2 business in Australia, at a cost of nearly $20 million. The Australian market in industrial applications for carbon dioxide represents 200,000 tonnes per year and has been growing steadily by 4 per cent annually driven by food industries and water treatment.

Air Liquide has been operating in Australia for more than 50 years and currently operates several CO2 units for recovery, purification and liquefaction of CO2 . Origin and its joint venturers in BassGas invested $750 million in developing the BassGas project which provides gas, condensates and LPG from the Yolla field situated 147 kilometres off Victoria’s south east coast. Gas is processed onshore at the Lang Lang gas plant, 100 kilometres east of Melbourne, Origin has a 42.5 per cent interest in the project.

Origin has significant investments in renewable energy including the development of Geodynamics hot rock geothermal technology, SLIVER® solar panel technology and wind developments. Late last year Origin and ACCIONA Energy announced a long-term power purchase agreement that will see Origin play a key role in the commercialisation of Australia’s largest wind farm at Waubra in western Victoria.

Tags: Origin Energy