The 500 MW plant should be built at Kiwana, 45 kilometres south of Perth in Australia. More than 90% of the CO2 emitted should be captured and stored in an offshore geological formation. If the feasibility study is positive, a final investment decision is likely by 2011. The plant could come online three years later.

Next to reducing CO2 emissions – Australia hasn’t signed up to the Kyoto Protocol – the CCS plant has another important goal, as the Australian Prime Minister John Howard said: “Projects such as this are crucial to the future of Australia’s important coal industry.”

More information:

Press release on Rio Tinto site

Website Rio Tinto Australia (“We’re focussed on the environment”)