The former Leigh Creek coal field site will be transformed into an agriculture energy hub, with Leigh Creek Energy (LCK) confirming it will pursue a fertiliser production commercial pathway for its Leigh Creek Energy Project (LCEP).
The company has concluded its commercial options analysis for downstream Syngas production, and has determined the most financially attractive choice for the company’s 2,964 petajoules of 2C syngas at the former Leigh Creek coal field site is to make fertiliser products.
LCK Managing Director Phil Staveley said the company has now initiated full feasibility study processes to justify funding for the commercial project, following the completion of a fertiliser business case.
“The Board has determined that the most financially attractive commercial direction for the company is to maximise the value of the company’s vast gas resource at Leigh Creek and to turn this asset into fertiliser products on site,” Mr Staveley said.
“Factors influential in this decision include existing transport infrastructure which enables LCK to access markets for the product mix, demand for the product with stable pricing, and LCK’s natural advantage in having a large feedstock resource that can be used in production at a very low price.”
The Syngas that LCK will produce at Leigh Creek using In Situ Gasification is a critical feedstock element into the Ammonia production process of making fertiliser.
Two other business case scoping studies considered the conversion of Syngas at Leigh Creek into electricity for distribution into the National Electricity Market, and conversion to Natural Gas for the east coast market.
Risks with both electricity and natural gas markets in Australia were major factors in LCK no longer considering both options, along with the superior returns the fertiliser business case displays over electricity and natural gas.
