Grant to fuel investment in energy research

A $20 million grant to the Western Australian Energy Alliance (WA ERA) under the State Government's major research facilities program will be a critical part of Western Australia's future development, Premier Geoff Gallop said recently.

"This significant initiative will mean Western Australia will be home to one of the world's leading research hubs for oil, gas and clean energy technologies. It is a major decision in the context of the future of the State. It will add value to the tremendous contribution that these industries make to the economic well being of WA," Dr Gallop said.

WA ERA - an alliance between CSIRO Petroleum, Curtin University of Technology and The University of Western Australia - will use the grant to create a critical mass of researchers in WA dedicated to developing innovative, sustainable energy technologies and solutions for the global oil and gas industry.

"Australia's long term energy security will be dependent on the development of step change technologies to find more oil, increase recovery from existing reserves, economically develop stranded gas and create the knowledge base that positions Western Australia at the cutting edge of technology development for new clean energy sources such as hydrogen," Dr Gallop said.

WA ERA Chairperson and CSIRO Petroleum Chief, Professor Beverley Ronalds, said the Alliance would work with industry and government to develop research and education programs expected to attract increased investment from the private and public sector and deliver high-impact, business-driven benefits to the industry in WA and across the nation.

"The State will derive numerous benefits from the funding of WA ERA's research, including up to $229m invested into research programs conducted in WA over the next decade; leveraged federal research funding of $66m; growth of new business to support an increased global oil and gas industry operating out of Perth; and the sustainable exploitation of WA's oil and gas resources," Professor Ronalds said.

"Research teams with specialised skills in geology, geochemistry, rock physics, geo-mechanics, reservoir engineering, gas processing and offshore engineering, will advance the discovery of new oil and gas resources and the profitable exploitation of existing reservoirs, particularly those in deep water."

With predictions of a rapid decline in Australia's oil self-sufficiency during the coming decade, attention is turning to Western Australia's rich endowment of gas which, with its low carbon density, could be the fuel of the 21st century.

Curtin's Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), Professor Barney Glover and UWA's Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Doug McEachern described WA ERA an outstanding example of collaboration within the research community.

The grant would also allow 50 new research positions and around 30 additional PhD and Masters places from Curtin and UWA to be created.

"With industry and Government input, WA ERA can launch research programs at an internationally competitive scale by attracting the world's best researchers and significantly increasing industry investment in research and development," Professor Glover said.

"WA ERA will develop new knowledge and novel technologies to lead the world through a projected 30 to 40 year energy transition period," Professor McEachern said.

"It will carry out programs ranging from development of new fuels derived from existing hydrocarbons, to understanding and developing hydrates as a potential natural energy source and, ultimately, the development of hydrogen based fuels or perhaps some yet-to-be discovered energy source."

Earlier this year, Woodside Energy became WA ERA's first major industry client with the signing of a $25 million, five year R&D agreement.

Item provided courtesy of CSIRO