Carbon Energy produces electricity at Bloodwood Creek
JETT RINK: Queensland-based energy company Carbon Energy is continuing to move forward at its Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project at Bloodwood Creek, near Dalby in Queensland.
Carbon Energy laid claim to an Australian first in power generation earlier this month by producing electricity from syngas using its unique process of UCG, which has been developed in Queensland in conjunction with the CSIRO.
The company said it also remains on track to connect to Ergon Energy’s local electricity grid, which it expects to happen in October this year.
“We have proven ourselves as world leaders in our field by producing electricity from syngas using our technological innovation of UCG and we have also achieved over five months of continuous syngas production from the second UCG panel,” Carbon Energy managing director Andrew Dash said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“Our efforts are now focused on maintaining gas production and making preparations over the coming weeks for connection to the Ergon Energy local area network planned for October.”
Electricity is currently being produced at Bloodwood Creek at the maximum allowable rate under current approvals, with up to one megawatt of electricity being generated and transmitted into a load bank on site.
Carbon Energy said this process replicates continuous supply of power into the grid and confirms the use of syngas for sustainable electricity generation.
The company is also continuing to progress amendments to its existing environmental approvals to ramp up production to 5MW with the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).
These approvals are being progressed in parallel to the connection of the power station to the local grid.
“We are Queenslanders making electricity for Queenslanders,” Dash said.
“Our method of power generation also has a much lower environmental impact than other coal and gas extraction methods, can generate more energy from the same resource space and preserves groundwater aquifers.”