Exploration plans spark fear of another Santos oil spill off WA
Plans by Santos, which negligently caused an oil spill off WA four years ago, to drill seven exploration wells off the Pilbara coast have drawn fire from an environmental group.
Yara is a Norwegian fertiliser and chemicals company. It owns the Pilbara Fertilisers liquid ammonia plant on the Burrup Peninsula and half owns and operates the nearby Pilbara Nitrates plant that manufactures explosives. Yara is pursuing the production of emissions-free green and blue ammonia in Australia.
Norwegian Yara has big plans for green ammonia in WA's north while local Wesfarmers looks to build another traditional carbon-intensive facility south of Perth.
If CO2 from Yara's Pilbara ammonia plant is buried WA could ship a clean fuel to displace coal in JERA's Japanese power stations, but underground carbon storage has its doubters.
WA will be home to two of the largest green hydrogen electrolysers in the world to feed an ammonia plant and inject the clean fuel into the South West gas grid.
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