Wesfarmers’ liquified natural gas business EVOL LNG will begin a major expansion with a 40 percent production capacity increase at its Kwinana production facility by April 2020.
EVOL said that the move was driven by growing demand from the mining sector to replace the use of diesel for power generation with a cleaner and more cost-effective natural gas solution.
The Kwinana LNG plant, constructed in 2008 with a nameplate capacity of 175 tonnes per day, will increase its capacity to 250 tonnes per day from April 2020, with plans for further potential expansion to approximately 300 tonnes per day in 2021.
It is worth mentioning that the newest addition to EVOL LNG’s growing mining customer base is Adaman Resources’ Kirkalocka Gold Mine. Adaman anticipates it will save more than $2 million per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by fuelling the mine’s power station with LNG instead of diesel.
EVOL LNG’s manager for LNG and wholesale Nick Rea said: “ We are in advanced negotiations with several parties, and our confidence in future growth prospects has enabled us to commit to the first stage expansion, with FEEDunderway for the second stage expansion.
“ We are fortunate that the Kwinana plant can be expanded with relatively minor investment in a manageable, staged process as demand grows. ”
EVOL LNG currently has agreements in place with seven mining customers in the Goldfields and Mid-West regions of Western Australia and operates a growing fleet of over 30 road tankers to service its customers’ requirements.