Australian Future Energy powers ahead

Australian Future Energy still has power plans for Townsville as it continues to tick off the steps towards bringing its $1 billion Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project online. The company today announced completion of a merger with Synthesis Energy Systems, which will see it become a subsidiary of SES. Australian Future Energy chief executive officer Kerry Parker said the company strategy had always been to create a vertically integrated energy development and production company that combined operating assets with a set of well advanced and well planned growth assets. “We have accomplished this with our position in, and the contribution of AFE’s founding shareholders towards the successful turnaround of Batchfire’s Callide Mine, along with a project pipeline that includes substantial work completed on our advanced Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project, the acquisition of the Pentland Coal Mine Project (270 million metric tonnes resource), and the work we have completed for later-stage gasification projects in Townsville,” he said. Australian Future Energy has an option to acquire a project site in the Townsville State Development Area. "Our focus at the moment is on Gladstone, but down the track we will be likely to re-visit project options for Townsville," Mr Parker said. Mr Parker also said that it was the right time and the right place for scalable and replicable clean energy gasification projects with compelling economics. “Production costs of conventional gas are on the rise, and we’re able to secure long-term production of gas at competitive pricing," he said. “At Gladstone, we’ve made significant progress, putting all of the building blocks in place in logical order for a successful project, with a disciplined approach to development, and cautious use of funding." Mr Parker was among the speakers at the Gladstone Engineering Alliance Major Industry Conference yesterday. He told iQ afterwards that much had been achieved on the Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project since it was granted co-ordinated project status Queensland's Co-ordinator General late last year The proposed plant would convert 1.5 million tonnes of coal to produce up to 230,000 tonnes of ammonia and twelve petajoules of synthetic natural gas per annum. Mr Parker said the company had secured long-term offtake arrangements for the ammonia and gas it would porduce, with all of the product going to the east coast Australian market. It had engaged world-class EPC contractor SNC Lavalin and the FEED process was commencing. Mr Parker said Australian Future Energy expected to reach a final investment decision on the Gladstone project by the end of 2020. " We will spend calendar 2021 and 2022 (two years) building the project, and then be in production in early 2023," he said. The project would be located on a 120ha in the Gladstone State Development Area and is expected to create 800-1000 jobs in construction and up to 250 operational roles.

Australian Future Energy powers ahead

Industry Queensland

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