Coal companies in Western Australia are reporting upbeat results for testing of their deposits for gasification, a process which better uses the energy within the fossil fuel.
Coal companies in Western Australia are reporting upbeat results for testing of their deposits for gasification, a process which better uses the energy within the fossil fuel.
West Perth-based Eneabba Gas Ltd announced today that it has received encouraging results for initial gasification tests provided by the Queensland-headquartered Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development.
Coinciding with that announcement, state minister for energy Fran Logan revealed he was heading to the South West today for a presentation on results of German gasification tests on coal extracted from Collie.
Mr Logan made the announcement at the official unveiling of Aviva Corporation Ltd's move to study geosequestration in the Mid West where it plans to build a 400 mega watt power station.
Wesfarmers Ltd's Premier Coal and private group Griffin both operate mines in the region providing fuel for local power stations. Grffin has started construction of its two power station project, called Bluewaters I and II.
Eneabba has plans for a 168MW power station called Centauri 1, located about 8km from Dongara.
Eneabba listed in 2003 with a plan to develop a power station in the Mid West region fuelled by coal seam methane gas.
It said today that gasification could supply an alternative fuel supply for the gas-fired turbines of Centauri 1 at a more economical cost.
Below is the full announcement from Eneabba:
Australian energy development company Eneabba Gas Limited via its 100 per cent owned subsidiary Eneabba Mining Pty Ltd, has received an assessment of whether its tenements have the potential for coal gasification.
The coal tenements may well supply an alternative fuel supply for the gas-fired turbines of Centauri 1 at a more economical cost.
Composite seam analyses from some of the thicker coal seams intersected during the 2007 drilling were tested at the Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development ("CCSD") in Kenmore, Queensland.
The initial results are encouraging as advice from CCSD noted that "....the proximate volatile matter content of the samples in your analyses place the coals in a similar range to a number of coals we have tested successfully in the CCSD program..." .
Additional exploration drilling and samples are required to further define these initial results. EMPL will be lodging its 2008 exploration programme with DoIR in early March 2008, in order to secure approvals for the drilling and sampling of the target areas later this year.
The initial analysis was carried out on limited samples. Bulk sampling is now required to enable laboratory based volume tests and also pilot testing for the next stage.
About Eneabba Gas Limited:
Eneabba Gas is driving the development of the 168MW gas-fired Centauri 1 power station on Company-owned land near Dongara in the Mid West of Western Australia. Eneabba Gas proposes to market power from Centauri 1 to the fast growing Mid West region of WA.
