The Australian Government has formally designated the West Peron undersea rock formation off the country’s northern coast as an approved storage site for the proposed Bonaparte carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
Operated by Japanese energy producer Inpex, the Bonaparte project is designed with an annual storage capacity of 8 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂).
The facility will initially capture and store emissions from Inpex’s Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations, with plans to expand third-party storage services to hard-to-abate industrial facilities across the region.
Key project specifications and regulatory details include:
- Geological storage capacity: Inpex plans to inject and permanently store up to 443 million tonnes of CO₂ over an operational lifetime of up to 35 years.
- Undersea formation: Utilises the West Peron formation, a deep subterranean layer of porous rock situated beneath the seabed off Australia’s northern coast.
- Industrial expansion: Designed to serve as a regional carbon management hub for heavy industries seeking emissions reductions.
- Policy alignment: Supports Australia’s legislated commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Australia Resources Minister Madeleine King stated that the regulatory approval underscores the government’s strategy to deploy carbon capture technologies to abate industrial emissions that are difficult to eliminate through electrification alone.
The decision reinforces Australia’s position as a regional hub for carbon management infrastructure while supporting long-term bilateral energy cooperation with Japan.
