The state Environmental Protection Authority will not assess Woodside’s proposal to capture carbon from its Browse project beneath the sea floor, despite intense public interest.
The state Environmental Protection Authority will not assess Woodside’s proposal to capture carbon from its Browse project beneath the sea floor, despite intense public interest.
Woodside’s request to inject up to 14,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day into an under-sea reservoir was met with strong feedback from the public, garnering 1,240 submissions over a seven-day consultation window.
More than 1,200 of those called for the project, which was referred to the EPA by the Conservation Council of Western Australia and Greenpeace Asia Pacific, to be subjected to a public environmental review.
But the EPA opted not to assess the project, noting that its proposed location – 425 kilometres north of Broome – placed it in Commonwealth waters outside of the state’s jurisdiction.
The EPA said location of the project meant it was subject only to the federal government’s Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
Under the Act, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority will review Browse CCS.
“The EPA notes the marine values adjacent to the proposal and the level of interest regarding these values through comments received during the public comment period and third-party referrers,” The EPA said in its extract of determination.
Browse CCS is currently in the federal approvals process, where it is awaiting an assessment decision.
Gas production from the Browse field is the subject of a separate proposal which was first submitted for assessment by state and federal environmental regulators in 2018.
The production project has been pitched as a tie-back through the existing, onshore Karratha Gas Plant, part of the North West Shelf project which was granted a conditional life extension through to 2070 by the federal government in September.
The proposed onshore processing of Browse gas means the development of that field is subject to both state and federal environmental assessments, which remain ongoing.
Meanwhile, Woodside’s position on carbon capture for use at Browse has evolved over the years.
A 2022 submission to the federal government suggested CCS was high risk and high cost but would improve with time.
A year later Woodside sought to amend its Browse project submission to include the CCS plan but was knocked back by regulators.
As a result, the LNG producer submitted Browse CCS as a standalone project for assessment to state and federal regulators in October of 2024.
The Browse development is a joint venture of BP (44.33 per cent), Woodside (30.6 per cent), Japan Australia LNG (14.4 per cent) and PetroChina (10.67 per cent), which is operated by Woodside.
