Wandoan Power Project

The Wandoan Power Project is a proposed 400 megawatt integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) power station in Queensland which proposes to incorporate "90% carbon (CO2) capture and storage (CCS). In July 2009 GE Energy announced that it had "submitted a full project proposal to the Queensland and Australian federal governments as well as the Australian Coal Association" earlier that year.

Background
GC claimed that, "if the development phase moves forward this year, the plant is expected to be ready for commercial operation in late 2015 or early 2016." The company also stated that it was in discussions with Xstrata Coal about possible coal supply options and lists the government-owned generator, Stanwell Corporation as a project partner. GE Energy also identified the need for a "long-term CO2 storage" solution as a "critical aspect" of the project.

In its initial media release, Steve Bolze, the President and CEO of GE Energy’s Power & Water business, stated that the proposed project would "be based on GE’s commercially available IGCC technologies that have been operating for decades around the world and are being used at the 630 MW commercial plant under construction for Duke Energy at Edwardsport, Indiana in the U.S".

In September 2009 the Queensland government nominated the project for consideration under the Australian Federal Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships Program, which is a part of the Clean Energy Initiative.

In December 2009 the Federal Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, announced that the government would spend up to $120 million on pre-feasibility work on four CCS related projects, one of which was the Wandoan project. In a media release Ferguson stated that the Wandoan project "would have a net generating capacity of 334 mega watts (MWe). It aims to store up to 2.5 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum. It was chosen for further assessment because it is close to both an abundant supply of black coal and a good potential CO2  storage site." The announcement was welcomed by the Wandoan Power Consortium.

Pre-feasibility study indicates that the CCS project is not commercially feasible
In its 2011 annual report Stanwell Corporation announced that it had completed a pre-feasibility study. Stanwell was upbeat about the technical possibility of the project, proclaiming that the site was deemed to be suitable with access to coal, water and the transmission grid. Stanwell also stated that the proposed project was "located in a region which contains geological structures that appear to be suitable for long-term storage of CO2." However, did not mention the economics of the project.

While noting that the consortium had initially been shortlisted by the Australian government as one of four CCS projects included in the CCS Flagships Program, it soberly reported that the federal government had gone coll on the project. "In June 2011, Stanwell was advised that the Australian Government had selected a Western Australian project to proceed under a phased and gated approach, with an initial focus on proving up sufficient geological storage. However, the Australian Government did note that there was benefit in engaging in further discussions with Wandoan Power and we will continue to work with our partner, GE Energy, on our proposal."

Personnel

 * Phil Solomon, Commercial Director, Wandoan Power Consortium

Project details
Proponent: Wandoan Power Consortium Installed capacity: 400 megawatts pre-carbon capture Post capture output: 341 megawatts.

Contact details
Website: http://www.wandoanpower.com.au/Home Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute profile: http://www.globalccsinstitute.com/projects/12521

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Australia and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Carbon Capture and Storage in Australia
 * Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects worldwide

External resources
Pre-feasibility Study Knowledge Sharing Report"], June 2011.
 * "Wandoan Power Project - Proposed Pre-feasibility Funding", Department of Resources and Energy, February 11, 2010. (This is a copy of a departmental minute to the Minister which was released under a Freedom of Information request).
 * Wandoan Power Consortium, [http://cdn.globalccsinstitute.com/sites/default/files/publications/20586/wandoan-power-project-pre-feasibility-study-knowledge-sharing-report.pdf "Wandoan Power Project