West Oz Approves Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Western Australia on September 7 said the Waitsia gas project stage 2 had been recommended for environmental approval. The project is owned by Australia’s Beach Energy and Japan’s Mitsui through its subsidary AWE.
The project involves construction of a conventional gas facility about 16-km south-east of the Dongara-Port Denison town sites. The scheme, which will further develop the Waitsia gas field, does not include hydraulic fracture stimulation, the EPA said. The gas extracted will be conveyed to gas hubs and then be directed via flowlines to the proposed Waitsia gas plant for processing, before being transported to the nearby Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline.
EPA chair Tom Hatton said this was the second proposal the agency had assessed under its new greenhouse gas emissions guidance, which was released in April this year.
“The EPA welcomes the proponent’s commitment to emissions targets that go above and beyond the EPA’s long-standing policy of offset reservoir emissions,” he said. “AWE Perth Pty Ltd have also committed to emissions targets that require the project to avoid, reduce or offset greenhouse emissions over time and a trajectory that delivers net zero emissions by 2050.”
AWE has incorporated a number of design elements and technologies along with monitoring and management programmes to achieve emission reductions, EPA said, adding the company had also proposed to undertake a refit of the plant and equipment after 10 years of operation to adopt further greenhouse gas abatement measures if they are available to further support their endeavours.
The EPA said the potential impact on flora and vegetation from the clearing of 17 hectares of native vegetation, dust deposition, weeds and dieback could be adequately managed through a recommended flora and vegetation management plan.
The North West Shelf (NWS) project partners signed preliminary deal last month for processing third-party gas through the NWS facilities with Mitsui and Beach Energy, relating to the Waitsia gas project stage 2. NWS signed a similar agreement with Woodside for gas from Pluto fields.