Oil and gas producer Santos’ Moomba carbon capture and storage project has received the single largest issuance of Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER).
The CER confirmed the issuance of 614,133 ACCUs to Santos under the approved carbon capture and storage method, covering Moomba’s initial six months of operations from September 2024 to March.
Moomba has stored 1.3 million metric tonnes of CO2e safely and permanently stored to date. At full injection rates, the project stores more CO2e every four days than 10,000 electric vehicles avoid in one year.
Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said Moomba demonstrates the real potential for large-scale emissions reduction to be delivered by carbon capture and storage projects.
“Policymakers should seize the opportunity to deploy CCS to reduce emissions faster, at scale and cost competitively – particularly when Australia has a unique and natural advantage in carbon capture and storage that is complemented by a well-established, world-class regulatory regime administered by the Clean Energy Regulator,” Gallagher said.
“This is a real industry opportunity for Australia and for South Australia, with Santos seeing interest from customers in both Australia and Asia.
“It’s a real pathway to green steel and green manufacturing today, and it’s an opportunity to create real jobs of the future that are skilled, well-paid and secure. Moomba CCS is a great example of the just transition in action.”
The Moomba facility is expected to capture up to 1.7 million tonnes of CO2e every year over its 25-year crediting period, according to a CER release.
The facility is covered under the safeguard mechanism, which is driving emissions reductions across Australia’s industry and resource sectors.
CER Chair David Parker said: “Carbon capture and storage is an opportunity to sequester carbon at scale, helping position Australia as a leader in climate action.
“CCS also demonstrates the effectiveness of Australia’s carbon market framework to create incentives and deliver significant industrial decarbonisation outcomes.”