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- A second shut down will take place at Cooper Energy’s (COE) Orbost gas processing plant on June 20, 2020, lasting for six days
- The shut down is being blamed on a re-occurrence of fouling due to prolonged foaming in the second absorber
- It’s the second time in six weeks the gas plant has had to be shut due to the fouling issue
- The plant is part of the Sole gas field, which provides gas to Cooper Energy’s southeast Australian customers
- Cooper Energy shares are trading at 39.8 cents per share, a rise of 4.61 per cent.
Gas provider Cooper Energy (COE) has released an update on its Orbost gas processing plant, revealing another shut down would be needed, six weeks on from the last one.
The re-occurrence is being blamed on fouling, which is due to prolonged foaming in the second absorber. The second shut down will allow for the absorber vessel to be cleaned.
The shutdown is expected to commence from June 20, or June 21, 2020, and will last approximately six days.
However, the shutdown is the second one to occur in just six weeks.
Cooper Energy, and its partner in the project, APA Group (APA), shut the plant in early May for nine days to fix the same fouling issue.
Since the close, APA Group (APA) says an additional antifoam dosing pump has been installed to improve performance.
Both companies are working to improve the output of the gas plant and achieve an output of 68 terajoules of energy per day.
Since May 20, when the plant last reopened, the output has averaged 34 terajoules of energy per day, with a peak of 55 terajoules of energy on June 9, 2020.
In today’s announcement, APA Group also flagged further plant modifications may be needed in case current commissioning does not achieve the required performance rate.
Cooper Energy shares are trading at 39.8 cents per share, a rise of 4.61 per cent.
Meanwhile, APA Group shares are trading at $11.72, up 2.36 per cent.
