New work to advance Kingaroy

Development plans for an underground coal gasification project and related...

  Development plans for an underground coal gasification project and related power station near Kingaroy in Queensland have taken another step forward with the start of an extensive drilling program and work on a pilot plant scheduled for start-up in the New Year.Cougar Energy said it had significantly advanced the development of its Kingaroy Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project with the commencement of an extensive field drilling campaign. Cougar also said the company had made progress in the design of surface facilities associated with the proposed UCG pilot burn scheduled for May 2008, and had submitted an application for a Mining Development Licence.The UCG process enables deep coal deposits to be converted into a syngas suitable for use as a fuel in power generation or the manufacture of a range of petroleum products.Cougar Energy is planning the staged development of a gas production facility at Kingaroy to supply fuel to a combined cycle power plant with an ultimate capacity of 400MW.Cougar’s Managing Director, Dr Len Walker said: “Following the Xmas break, and completion of the remaining exploration drilling, the field program will undertake pump testing of the coal seam, and the installation of the first three process wells in readiness for further in-situ testing and the initiation of the pilot burn.” Dr Walker said the preliminary design and costing of the surface gas treatment facility for the pilot burn had now been completed.“The purpose of this plant is to allow a variety of data to be obtained relating to the composition of the gas before and after cleaning, and the composition and treatment of both the liquid hydrocarbon and waste water condensates,” he said.“The plant will contain some flexibility in operation to ensure that the final product gas will meet the requirements of gas turbine manufacturers. “Specific items of plant are now being sourced for purchase or manufacture, prior to finalising negotiations on project funding,” he said.