$22 million Cleaning up coal technologies

The NSW Government will spend $22 million on two pilot clean coal projects to reduce greenhouse emissions from power stations in NSW.

The best technology available will be used in a bid to reduce emissions and research new ways to provide cleaner, greener energy.

The first project will capture greenhouse gas emissions from power stations and pump them into deep underground rock formations for permanent disposal – a method known as geosequestration.

The initial stage of the first project will identify potential CO₂ storage sites in NSW.

This will be followed by a pilot project to capture and permanently store CO₂ into the deep geological formations. 

The total cost of the geosequestration project will top the $60 million mark.

There will also be an Ultra Clean Coal project which will produce a high purity, cleaned coal that can be burnt directly in gas turbines to generate electricity.

To assist the Ultra Clean Coal project, the NSW Government will grant freehold land title valued at $1.9 million and a long term lease to UCC Energy Pty Ltd for the construction of a demonstration plant at Cessnock.

Ultra clean coal fired turbines can potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the generator by 20 per cent to 30 per cent and make it easier to capture greenhouse gas emissions.

An Ultra Clean Coal power station would produce substantially less greenhouse gas emissions than the existing best plants in service in NSW and Victoria.

Ultra Clean Coal fired power plants on average could save an impressive one million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being pumped in to the atmosphere each year compared to a conventional power station.

The Ultra Clean Coal project is based on wholly owned Australian technology.