Under the MoU the partners will complete a prefeasibility study on power generation at or near the Metropolitan mine site using gas feed from the ventures CCL 379 and CCL 703 leases as unprocessed mine gas feed.
If the results are positive the group will establish a supply agreement from the venture's Wollongong CBM project in the Illawarra region, south of Sydney.
The idea of supplying CBM to a near site power generator has been proven locally with BHP's Westcliff-Appin-Tower colliery drawing around seven billion cubic feet of CBM gas per annum from the Bulli Coal Seam ahead of longwall mining. The gas has been supplied to two local power stations having a total 96.8MW of generating capacity.
The Wollongong Project includes PPL 442 and PEL 444 and access to the Coal Concession Leases CCL 379 and CCL 703. The latter Coal Concession Leases are the immediate subject of the MOU.
The Sun Resources-Apex Energy studies have estimated around 112 billion cubic feet of CSM gas to be present on their leases at the P50 level, with some 65 billion cubic feet of CSM gas being recoverable.
