Dutch company Royal Vopak has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Northern Territory government to build Australia’s first carbon dioxide import terminal in Darwin.

The proposed facility, planned for the $1.5 billion federally funded Middle Arm industrial precinct, will be designed for local and overseas companies to store CO2 in tanks, before it is transferred to a permanent destination.

The managing director for Vopak Terminals Australia, Paul Kanters, said CO2 could be liquefied and shipped to the Darwin terminal from various locations, including overseas.

He also said local industry would use the facility.

“There is already quite a bit of industry in Darwin that hopefully might use this and should potentially be able to use pipelines [to transfer the CO2],” he said.

“But other facilities will likely need different forms of transportation. There’s certainly potential for [carbon to be shipped to Darwin].”

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Mr Kanters said overseas customers would likely come from south-east Asia.

“Australia … [supplies] energy to all different types of economies in south-east Asia,” he said.

“Those countries, a lot of them, don’t have the ability to store CO2 in their waters, or on their land.

“So there’s an opportunity there, where they might need other sources of storage, and Australia — particularly Northern Territory — could offer that to them.”

After storing carbon at the facility, it could then be transferred to destinations such as underground carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities, Mr Kanters said.

Last year, the federal government passed legislation creating the possibility for companies to pump CO2 across Australia’s international borders. 

Large-scale CCS projects around the world have had trouble performing to levels expected.

Royal Vopak already has a presence in Darwin, owning a petroleum import and distribution terminal consisting of 21 fuel tanks.

Mr Kanters said Royal Vopak aimed to have the new import facility operational by 2030.

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler said CCS would be a “core component” of the Middle Arm industrial precinct.

“This agreement leverages Vopak’s global expertise in developing infrastructure solutions to accelerate the energy transition worldwide,” she said.