Four major energy companies have joined forces to conduct a pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) study for the production and export of e-methane from Australia to Japan.
The consortium comprises Japan’s leading gas utilities Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, and Toho Gas, along with Australian energy giant Santos.
The partners have signed an agreement to evaluate the technical, regulatory, and commercial feasibility of producing e-methane, a carbon-neutral synthetic methane, at Moomba in Australia’s Cooper Basin.
The ambitious project aims to produce more than 130,000 tons of e-methane annually, equivalent to approximately 180 million cubic meters of city gas per year.
The e-methane would be transported via existing pipelines from Moomba to Santos-operated liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in Darwin and Gladstone, where it would be liquefied and shipped to Japan using LNG carriers.
The collaboration builds upon an earlier feasibility study conducted by Santos and Tokyo Gas since November 2023, which explored the potential of e-methane production in the Cooper Basin for export to Japan.
E-methane, also known as synthetic methane, is produced by combining green hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from industrial emissions. This process offers a promising pathway to decarbonise the natural gas industry and support the transition towards a low-carbon economy.
For this pre-FEED initiative, Tokyo Gas has secured a subsidy from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.
The partners aim to commence e-methane production and export by 2030 at the earliest, subject to the successful completion of the pre-FEED study and subsequent project development phases.
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