INPEX Corp. and JERA Co. Inc. agreed to carry out a preliminary joint study concerning the feasibility of separating and capturing CO2 emitted by JERA in Japan and transporting it to Australia for storage.
Under the agreement, the companies will jointly examine project feasibility across the entire value chain, from the separation and capture of CO2 emitted by JERA in Japan to its transportation between the two countries—including transport methods and shipping/receiving conditions—and its underground storage in Australia.
INPEX was awarded a greenhouse gas storage assessment permit in the Bonaparte basin off the northwestern coast of the Northern Territory of Australia with TotalEnergies CCS Australia Pty Ltd. and Woodside Energy Ltd. in 2022 (OGJ Online, Aug. 21,2023; Aug. 24, 2022).
The project provides an opportunity to prove up a large-scale carbon storage site for the Darwin-based, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) Hub proposed by the Northern Territory Government and has the potential to become one of the largest CCS projects in the world, INPEX said.
The INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG would be a natural user of the CCS solution as it seeks to reduce its GHG emissions.
