Australia's Woodside targets net-zero emissions at Pluto LNG by 2050

Australia's Woodside is aiming to cut its Pluto LNG project's greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 under new conditions imposed by the Western Australian government.

Woodside said June 8 that it is targeting a final investment decision for Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 for the second half of 2021. It is also investigating ways to cut emissions such as the supply of about 50 MW of solar energy to Pluto from its proposed Woodside Power Project.

"Woodside will integrate a number of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Pluto LNG by adopting technology considered to be best practice for LNG developments in Australia, implementing operational improvements and offsetting all reservoir carbon dioxide," the company said in a statement.

The Pluto plan is to add a second train of about 5 million mt/year. The current train has a nameplate capacity of 4.9 million mt/year. Woodside was granted approvals for the construction in December 2007.

Western Australia environment minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said June 8 in a statement that the change was made following independent advice given by the Environmental Protection Authority.

"This is a significant advance in the management of greenhouse gas emissions for this important project, committing both the existing and new trains to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 and set a clear trajectory towards achieving net-zero by 2050," Sanderson added.

Santos gets funds for CCS development

Fellow Australian LNG exporter Santos on June 8 said it has been awarded A$15 million from the Australian Government's Carbon Capture Use and Storage Development Fund for the development of its about A$210 million Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia.

Santos has planned a final investment decision on Moomba CCS in the H2 as part of its plan to decarbonize its business. Santos aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.