Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) together with consortium partners ACIL Tasman, KPMG and Senergy, have now been chosen to assist the Commonwealth’s Independent Assessment Panel to CCS projects as part of the CCS Flagships Program initiative.A key part of the Federal Government’s broader $4.5 billion Clean Energy Initiative, the CCS Flagships Program will provide $2 billion over nine years towards the development of two to four industrial scale CCS projects in Australia.The program aims to create 1,000MW of low emission fossil fuel generation and would significantly advance Australia’s contribution to the G8 goal of developing 20 CCS demonstration projects around the globe by 2020. PB Australia-Pacific MD Dr Jim Mantle said, “if Australia is to meet its greenhouse gas targets, then CCS is the one solution to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from power generation”.It has assembled an international team to work on the project, including CCS experts who are currently advising the UK Government on a similar program it is running.The Australian Government in May called for nominations for projects to be supported under the CCS Flagships Program. It plans to announce selected projects in August 2010, with construction of successful projects expected to commence from 2012, with commissioning from 2015.
