Preliminary investigation of the hydrogen storage potential in the Port Campbell Embayment, Otway Basin, Victoria, Australia
Rami Eid A * and Louise Goldie Divko A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Geological Survey of Victoria, Level 17, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
* Correspondence to: rami.eid@ecodev.vic.gov.au
The APPEA Journal 63 305-320 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22025
Submitted: 1 December 2022 Accepted: 2 February 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
To understand Victoria’s potential for underground hydrogen storage (UHS), the depleted, unproduced and repurposed fields of the Port Campbell Embayment were assessed for subsurface storage suitability. Additionally, the saline reservoir storage potential of the area was investigated. Data from historic exploration and previous studies in the Port Campbell Embayment were used to undertake geological investigations and storage capacity estimates. The fields investigated in this preliminary study have potential, with the Waarre Formation-Belfast Mudstone reservoir-seal pair highly favourable for UHS. Reservoir injectivity assessments suggest the existing fields are capable of multiple cycles of injection and withdrawal. Seal capacity analysis indicates that the Belfast Mudstone is capable of retaining column heights of hydrogen ranging from 55 to 1267 m, which mostly exceed the greatest known vertical closures in the onshore Otway Basin. The
Keywords: hydrogen storage, hydrogen storage play, injectivity, Otway Basin, Port Campbell Embayment, saline reservoir, seal capacity, storage capacity, underground gas storage, underground hydrogen storage, Waarre Formation, Waarre play.
Dr Rami Eid has a BSc (Hons) from the University of Adelaide’s Australian School of Petroleum and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh where he studied the potential of geophysical methods to monitor carbon dioxide sequestration and migration from underground storage sites. He currently works for the Geological Survey of Victoria as a Senior Geologist – Energy Resource Systems, assessing Victoria’s prospectivity for energy resources. Rami is a member of PESA and the Hydrogen Society of Australia. |
Dr Louise Goldie Divko is the Manager of Basin and Energy Resources Geoscience at the Geological Survey of Victoria. She manages a team of geoscience specialists who investigate the energy resource potential of Victoria’s sedimentary basins. Louise has previously worked for Schlumberger and in the education sector. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Science with Honours, a Diploma of Education and a Doctor of Philosophy. Louise is a member of the Hydrogen Society of Australia. |
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