BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal, with the support of the Australian Greenhouse Office, today announced a major project to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its West Cliff Colliery in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.

The A$13 million West Cliff Ventilation Air Methane Project (WestVAMP) is the final step in proving a technology, first piloted at Illawarra Coal’s Appin Colliery in 2001, capable of mitigating the bulk of the company’s remaining greenhouse gas emissions, while producing electricity as a product.

The Australian Government is contributing up to A$6 million through the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program.

The two Ministers responsible for the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program; Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Dr David Kemp and Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Mr Ian Macfarlane both commended BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal on its commitment to build this plant.

BHP Billiton believes that this project is an example of how technology can play a key part in reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.  This technology has the potential to be used in other coal mines in Australia.

WestVAMP will utilise 20 per cent of West Cliff’s available mine ventilation air to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 200,000 tonnes CO2-e per year.

This is equivalent to producing enough electricity for 20,000 homes, or removing emissions from 45,000 cars from the environment each year.

President Illawarra Coal Colin Bloomfield said he was proud that that the company is recognised as an industry leader in reducing GHG emissions from its underground coal mining activities.

“To date, the principal form of greenhouse gas mitigation has been through the consumption of mine methane drainage gas at the Appin and Tower Power Plants.  These plants alone reduce Illawarra Coal’s greenhouse gas emissions on average by 2.5 million tonnes CO2-e per annum.

“Further reductions in Illawarra Coal’s greenhouse gas emissions can only be achieved through reduction of fugitive emissions of methane in the mine ventilation air,” he said.

Mr Bloomfield explained that methane has a global warming potential of over 20 times that of carbon dioxide.

“Methane concentrations in mine ventilation air are typically less than 1.25 per cent by volume which is not freely combustible with conventional combustion technology.  These and other factors have made reducing greenhouse emissions in mine ventilation a significant technical challenge,” he said.

WestVAMP, which will be located alongside existing surface facilities at West Cliff Colliery, is based upon VOCSIDIZER™ technology developed by Swedish emission control specialist MEGTEC System AB.  This coverts low concentration methane to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour though an oxidation, or flameless combustion, process.  High efficiency heat exchangers recover the large levels of thermal energy released to produce high quality steam.   This steam is used to drive a conventional steam turbine to generate electricity.

Mr Bloomfield explained that WestVAMP builds upon more than seven years of cooperative development work with MEGTEC aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including the successful pilot plant at Appin Colliery.

On top of cutting methane emissions, the project will generate 6 MW of electricity from the steam turbine which will be a source of energy to be used within the West Cliff Colliery.  

Construction is scheduled to commence later this year with commercial operation planned for mid 2006.