Strike Energy Ltd., West Perth, reported on June 7 that it is moving its Project Haber 1.4 million mt/y granular urea project from its planned location in the Geraldton Port some 100 kilometers inland to Three Springs Shire in Western Australia. Strike said it has entered into a binding agreement to buy 3,500 hectares of freehold farming land under which the company’s 100% owned South Erregulla gas discoveries and carbon sequestration reservoirs sit.
Project Haber will be located in what Strike is calling the Mid West Low Carbon Manufacturing Precinct. Strike is hoping to attract other renewables developers and low-carbon manufacturing collaborators to the Precinct.
The move to Three Springs removes the 105 kilometer natural gas pipeline from Project Haber’s capital costs, reducing the expense by some A$85 million. It also eliminates the potentially lengthy process of obtaining pipeline access agreements.
Other benefits include wind and solar power generation at the site, the potential to use 1,500 hectares for a carbon farming project to generate carbon credits, and an R&D grain farm, which can facilitate the testing and consumption of Project Haber’s outputs as the facility evolves. The farming activity could also provide a complementary revenue stream during construction and over time.
Last month, Strike selected Koch Fertilizer LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., Wichita, as the preferred bidder for the offtake of 100% of Project Haber’s 1.4 million mt/y of urea production (GM May 20, p. 1).