Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has officially opened a dedicated micro-LNG plant near the Queensland township of Chinchilla, which will provide a cleaner, cost effective domestic gas fuel opportunity for Queensland manufacturing, off grid generation and transport.
QGC Pty Limited, one of the largest Australian coalbed methane companies developing methane reserves within the Bowen and Surat Basins of Queensland, announced that it has entered into a long-term agreement to supply BOC – a member of The Linde Group – with gas reserves, which BOC will then liquefy to produce LNG for a range of domestic fuel uses in the manufacturing, mining and long-haul trucking markets.
According to QGC, the gas will also be available for use in the stationary energy sector and for cleaner power generation in remote communities.
“This plant marks the start of a new industry for Queensland giving local and interstate manufacturing, off grid electricity generation and heavy transport users the opportunity to switch to LNG, an environmentally cleaner fuel than current alternatives,” said BOC South Pacific Managing Director Colin Isaac.
“LNG produces up to 25% fewer emissions than diesel when used for transport and is a proven, safe alternative to other fossil fuels. It is also ideal for marine vessels and is Great Barrier Reef friendly because unlike diesel and marine oil it evaporates if spilled with no toxic effects.”
The plant, which will use natural gas fed into the Roma – Brisbane pipeline by QGC, will liquefy the natural gas in a refrigeration process by utilising BOC’s proven and safe technology.
The resulting LNG will be transported in specially designed vacuum tankers to customers and a network of refuelling stations from Queensland to Victoria.
It will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with local operators supported from BOC’s Remote Operations Centre located in Sydney.
QGC Technical and Commercial Director Walter Simpson said this is an example of how the advantages of natural gas development in Queensland are flowing through to the local economy.
“Meeting gas supply commitments under long-term contracts with domestic customers, such as BOC, is our first order of priority for QGC’s natural gas production,” Mr Simpson said.
“Over the next few years we will be ramping up production in order to also keep our two trains full at Curtis Island producing LNG for international markets.”
The total spend for the gas, micro-LNG plant and supply chain infrastructure by BOC will be over $200 million over 15 years , producing up to 50 tonnes of LNG per day into the domestic market.
