NERA welcomes $10 million commitment to make world-first LNG Futures Facility a reality
NERA welcomes the announcement by WA State Premier Mark McGowan to commit $10 million towards the development of the LNG Futures Facility – a national, micro-scale and open-access LNG test facility to be built in Western Australia.
NERA is a proud project partner of the LNG Future Facility and is supporting the development of this accessible, purpose-built and operational environment that is estimated to offer in excess of $500 million of value to the Australian LNG industry each year.
When constructed, the facility will be a globally unique platform allowing Australian innovators an unparalleled opportunity to test new technologies in a live plant environment, enabling rapid deployment and adoption of innovative solutions by Australian LNG producers, suppliers and consumers, delivering positive economic ripple effects across the supply and value chains.
Mr McGowan made the announcement during a speech delivered at the 19th International Conference & Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG19) in Shanghai, saying the Futures Facility would position WA as a global leader in the development and testing of new technologies and processes, with the potential to create up to 1,400 jobs.
CEO Miranda Taylor said the funding commitment from the WA State Government through the Premier’s LNG Jobs Taskforce will help accelerate the delivery of the Facility and maximise its ability to commercialise and deliver innovation developed by Australia’s world-class LNG industry.
“Australia is currently the world’s largest LNG exporter, delivering billions of dollars in revenue to the national economy and supporting tens-of-thousands of jobs,” Ms Taylor said. “But through crucial opportunities like the Future Facility, as a country we can seize the opportunity to leverage beyond just our nation’s natural resources and fast-tract the capitalisation and realisation of great Australian inventions into global energy supply chains.”
“This project has the potential to deliver huge employment opportunities both within and outside our immediate sector. We know that for every single job in the oil & gas industry, 10 additional jobs across the supply chain and the wider economy are supported - five times the indirect employment multiplier than the average industry in Australia, meaning that when we support our sector, our country benefits.”
“As an active supporter of the LNG Jobs Taskforce, together our mission is to strengthen Western Australia's position as a global hub for innovation in LNG excellence, and through initiatives like this, we can enhance the global competitive advantage of our local innovation industry and support the development of a world-class, innovative supply sector."
The LNG Futures Facility is an initiative of the Australian Centre for LNG Futures - an Australian Research Council-funded Industrial Transformation Training Centre and is supported by NERA, Chevron, Shell and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Sector-wide impact of the LNG Futures Facility include:
Estimated to offer +$500 million of value to the Australian LNG industry each year by enabling the rapid deployment and adoption of innovative solutions by Australian LNG producers, suppliers and consumers to provide benefits across the supply and value chains.
- Produces a technology export stream that will benefit the wider Australian economy.
- Generates opportunities for small to medium enterprises, large-scale enterprises and research institutions to further their research and development.
- Accelerates the rate of technology commercialisation by reducing the risk and scale of the processes
To find out more about the project, visit NERA’s project summary here.
To read Premier Mark McGowan’s statement, click here.
You can also hear about the project in Episode 14 of our Energy Innovators Podcast here.