Woodside’s Angel CCS to study Western Australia CCS hub

The Woodside Energy Group Ltd.-operated Angel CCS joint venture will collaborate with Yara Pilbara Fertilisers Pty Ltd. (Yara Pilbara) to study the feasibility of using carbon capture and storage (CCS) to decarbonize Yara Pilbara’s existing operations near Karratha in Western Australia.

A non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed to determine if Angel CCS can develop a large-scale, multi-user CCS hub to decarbonize Yara Pilbara’s operations in the Burrup Strategic Industrial Area.

The initial size of the proposed CCS plant is subject to the completion of additional technical, regulatory, and commercial studies, but it could have a processing capacity of up to 5 million tonnes/year of CO₂, Woodside said in a release Apr. 5. 

“A multi-user CCS hub near Karratha would be ideally located to aggregate emissions from various existing industrial emissions sources across the Pilbara, providing users with advantaged access to a local, low-cost and large-scale emissions abatement solution – a competitive advantage as jurisdictions around the world implement emissions reduction targets. “In addition to decarbonising existing industry, a CCS hub would also have the potential to facilitate the development of new lower-carbon industries, such as the production of hydrogen, ammonia and green steel, supporting the diversification of the Western Australia economy” said Woodside vice-president of carbon solutions Jayne Baird.

In 2022, the NW Shelf JV was awarded a greenhouse gas permit over depleted Angel field in northern Carnarvon basin offshore Western Australia (OGJ Online, Sept. 1, 2022).