Benzinga | Dec 16, 2021 08:24AM EST

Baker Hughes To Provide CO2 Compression Equipment For Santos Moomba Carbon Capture & Storage Project In Australia

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR), an energy technology company, has been awarded a contract with Santos, a leading natural gas producer in Australia, to supply turbomachinery equipment for the Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project ("Moomba CCS"). The project will serve a gas processing plant and permanently store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in depleted natural gas reservoirs in the onshore Cooper Basin in South Australia. Baker Hughes will provide gas turbine, compressor and heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) technologies to compress the carbon dioxide (CO2).

The contract follows a 35+ year history of Baker Hughes providing technology and services to Santos for its operations, including turbomachinery and offshore equipment and services. Moomba CCS further progresses the companies' relationship as Santos evolves its own operations across the energy transition and leverages Baker Hughes' comprehensive portfolio of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) solutions. Specifically, Baker Hughes will provide PGT25+G4 aeroderivative gas turbine, MCL compressor, and BCL compressor technology, which will enable Santos to compress CO2 captured at Moomba CCS for transportation and subsequent injection for storage.

Baker Hughes' broader CCUS portfolio features advanced turbomachinery, solvent-based state-of-the-art capture processes, well construction and management for CO2 storage, and advanced digital monitoring and industrial asset management solutions.

"This project exemplifies the range of solutions that energy and industrial companies are seeking across the energy transition and how collaboration is needed to lower emissions and enhance efficiencies from their operations," said Rod Christie, executive vice president of Turbomachinery & Process Solutions at Baker Hughes. "Through our advanced turbomachinery technology, we are supporting Santos to decarbonize natural gas while providing an opportunity to utilize CO2 as a valuable input for producing reliable energy with advanced blue hydrogen."

The contract for Baker Hughes' technology lays a foundation for Santos' future objectives of decarbonizing natural gas, lowering emissions and ultimately producing hydrogen fuel using stored CO2. A final investment decision on the Moomba CCS project was reached in November 2021.