CO2, H2 and compressed air energy storage site screening study - selected onshore basins in the Northern Territory

Abstract

A collaborative study assessing the geological storage potential of the Northern Territory's onshore basins has been commissioned by the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS) under its Resourcing the Territory program and undertaken by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

This study comprises a high-level screening of the geological storage potential for CO2, hydrogen (H2) and compressed air across five pre-selected onshore sedimentary basins, namely the Amadeus, Bonaparte (onshore), Georgina, McArthur (including the Beetaloo Sub-basin) and Ngalia basins. Hydrocarbon reservoirs (both current and depleted), saline aquifers and salt diapirs represent the primary focus for assessments of geological storage potential in these basins, which were chosen due to both their stratigraphic and geographic distribution and the availability of subsurface data. Geological storage potential assessment criteria for the screening of these basins were jointly agreed by NTGS and CSIRO, with each basin ranked based on its prospectivity for successful storage of CO2, H2 and compressed air. These ranking criteria include capacity (how much can be stored), injectivity (how easily it can be injected), level of knowledge (data availability), containment (risk of escape) and existing resources/infrastructure.

This study identifies 31 potential plays for the geological storage of CO2 (CCS) across the five selected basins.