Coolimba Oxy-fuel Project

Facts:

Aviva Corp. announced the development of a 2x200 MV base load “oxy-fuel ready” power station in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The Coolimba Project will be built from the outset as a coal fired boiler that will be capable of rapid conversion to capture the CO2 produced during the combustion of coal. A 30 MW demonstration project is currently being built in Queensland, and will enter service in the second half of 2009. The Coolimba project aims to build on the experiences of this project to become the first commercial scale oxy ready project in Australia.

Coolimba Power commissioned the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) in February 2008 to undertake a study to assess the potential for the underground storage of CO2 in WA’s Mid West region. The A$ 250,000 study is a major step toward low-emission power generation in WA and will position Coolimba among the first commercial projects to adopt this technology in the world. Sequestration sites are currently being sought by CO2CRC and ARC Energy with capacity for 2.9 million ton CO2 per year for up to 30 years.

The project cost is in the order of A$ 1 billion.

Storage:

Converting the boiler to oxy firing is only one step in the process of capturing and sequestering CO2. Suitable locations will need to be found for the long term storage of C02. Hence, Aviva will work with the CRC for CO2 capture and storage, based in WA at Curtin University, to support the necessary research and development work to allow the C02 to be sequestered immediately after the oxy firing conversion is completed at Coolimba.