Pilot Energy awarded $6.5M in govt funding for Mid West Clean Energy Project

Pilot Energy Ltd (ASX:PGY) has seen its share price lift more than 5% on news the company has been awarded $6.5 million to facilitate development of its Mid West Clean Energy Project (MWCEP), which aims to provide carbon capture services to Western Australia’s mid-west region.

The funding was provided by the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) through its Carbon Capture Technologies Program, and it will enable Pilot to move forward with engineering and technology demonstration activities.

These demonstrations will be across three sources of carbon with the initial potential to capture 200,000 – 300,000 tonnes of carbon per annum, with this representing around 50% of the estimated volume required to support Pilot’s Cliff Head Carbon Storage Project.

Securing this funding was a collaborative effort, as Pilot worked together with partners such as KC8, Svante and CarbonCo on carbon capture, while Capture6 was involved in carbon capture and water processing, Genesis Energies supported in terms of carbon supply chain engineering, Curtin University contributed carbon supply chain R&D, and Deloitte provided grant application support.

Regional stakeholders also played a role, including Yamatji Water – a potential water supplier to the project.

One particularly important partner for Pilot in MWCEP is Capture6, whose technology will play an essential part in processing water produced by future carbon storage operations for re-use in the proposed blue ammonia production system.

Pilot’s chairman Brad Lingo said the awarding of this grant will help to push the project further down the road.

“This $6.5 million grant allows Pilot to continue to build momentum in the MWCEP following the recent declaration of storage formation and completion of the pre-FEED study,” he said.

“We are grateful for the broad support our application received from a range of parties.

“We look forward to working with the DCCEEW and Department of Industry, Science and
Resources on the grant and commencing work on this important carbon removal initiative.”

At 12:43 AEDT, Pilot’s shares were trading at 1.9 cents, a rise of 5.5% since the market opened.