NSW to build pilot carbon capture plant

A A$5 million (US$4.5 million) pilot carbon capture plant will be built on the New South Wales Central Coast, the Australian state government announced. The plant will capture greenhouse gas emissions from the Munmorah Power Station, near the Tuggerah Lakes, in a pilot program for a much larger A$150 million (US$135.5 million) project. NSW Minister for Mineral Resources Ian Macdonald said the project would be built by Delta Electricity and the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), and would be completed by mid-2008. “The Iemma Government is committed to clean coal technology and this pilot is the first time we will physically be able to see this technology in action in Australia,” Macdonald said. “This project will play a crucial role in pioneering the way to a much larger A$150 million (US$135.5 million) demonstration project, which would capture more than 50,000 tons of CO2 each year,” he said. The larger-scale post combustion capture and storage project should be operational by 2013, he said. (September 27, 2007)