Callide Oxyfuels Project

Callide A Power Station was the site of the Callide Oxyfuel Project, a pilot-scale carbon capture demonstration that retrofitted a ~30 MW coal-fired unit with oxy-fuel combustion technology. The project operated from 2012 to 2015 and was decommissioned in FY2016 after successfully demonstrating integrated oxygen-fired combustion, CO₂ capture, and liquefaction. By replacing air with oxygen during combustion, the system produced a high-purity CO₂ stream suitable for transport and storage, capturing approximately 75 tCO₂/day during testing. The project validated the technical feasibility of oxyfuel retrofits on existing coal plants but did not progress to commercial deployment due to efficiency penalties, capital costs, and changing power market dynamics.