Four clean coal projects have moved up to the next stage of assessment in the $2 billion Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Flagships Program, Energy Minister Martin Ferguson announced Friday.

Up to $120 million will be invested by the Government on pre-feasibility work to further assess the following projects:

• Wandoan power plant project northwest of Brisbane, generating 334 mega watts (MWe) and aiming to store up to 2.5 mega tonnes of CO₂ per annum;
• ZeroGen power plant project west of Gladstone in Queensland, generating 400 MWe and aiming to store up to 2.0 mega tonnes of CO₂ per annum;
• Collie South West Hub project southwest of Perth which aims to store up to 3.3 mega tonnes of CO₂ per annum, captured from surrounding industry including coal-fired power plants; and
• CarbonNet project in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley which aims to store between 3 and 5 mega tonnes of CO₂ per annum, captured from coal-fired power plants in the region.

The CCS Flagships Program is Australia’s contribution to the G8 goal of at least 20 large scale integrated CCS projects globally by 2020.