Leigh Creek Energy Limited has announced that the Leigh Creek Energy Project (LCEP) will be at the forefront of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and will likely be the first large-scale fertiliser project in the world to be carbon neutral.

The LCEP is Leigh Creek Energy’s flagship project to produce urea fertiliser from its site in Leigh Creek, 500 kilometres north of Adelaide, using In Situ Gasification (ISG) technology.

The facility is planned to initially produce one million tonnes per annum of urea using Leigh Creek Energy’s 1,153 PJ 2P gas reserves.

On August 11, Leigh Creek Energy announced it will commence a new voluntary carbon-neutral program in early 2022. The program entails:

Year 1: 5MW construction will be carbon neutral through a combination of renewables, purchased offsets and carbon farming programs.

Year 2: FEED, FID and BFS will be carbon neutral through a combination of renewables, purchased offset and carbon farming programs.

Years 2-4: Development, construction and production operations will be carbon neutral through renewables, carbon farming and the start of CCUS programs.

Year 4 onwards: Utilisation of 75 per cent of CO2 in urea production, on-site carbon capture and storage processes (CCUS).

An independent engineering and geological review concluded that this program is possible at this location and the initial gasifier well design, gathering/pipelines will incorporate the double purpose design with the redundant gasifier chamber being converted for carbon geosequestration.

Leigh Creek Energy’s Managing Director, Phil Staveley, said the release of this updated plan is world-leading and will see the Leigh Creek Energy Project be carbon neutral from 2022, eight years earlier than planned.

“This voluntary action has been undertaken because we hold this as one of our core beliefs. We want to lead the industry globally in this space, and we believe it provides the most long-term value for all stakeholders,” Mr Staveley said.

“We expect [the plan] to be a significant drawcard for potential offtake, strategic partners and/or equity or debt providers as we lead this sector in moving towards a low carbon future.”

“This is achievable because our ESG principles allow us to design the business for lower emissions and carbon neutrality into all areas of planning, from the start of construction through to full-scale production as Australia’s first integrated urea plant servicing local and export agriculture markets.”