09:22 AEST Feb 18, 2011 ABN Newswire (C) 2004-2011 Asia Business News PL. All Rights Reserved.
Brisbane, Australia (ABN Newswire) -
Carbon Energy Limited (ASX: CNX) (PINK: CNXAF) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Adani Enterprises Ltd (BOM: 512599) (NSE: ADANIENT) (Adani), a member of the Adani Group of India, for the purpose of establishing a joint venture in India to pursue Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).
The first opportunity that Adani and Carbon Energy will explore has arisen as a result of Coal India Limited (BOM: 533278) (NSE: COALINDIA) (a Government of India Undertaking) operating a tender process in which Indian coal firms have sought UCG technology partners to participate in joint venture development of UCG interests. The MoU facilitates the partnership between Carbon Energy and Adani to jointly participate in this tender submission.
Andrew Dash, Managing Director, noted that partnership with Adani brings significant benefit to Carbon Energy. 'Carbon Energy will now be pursuing projects on three continents with the addition of India to our existing interests in Australia and in Chile. Adani is a major player in the Indian coal and power industries and has already established itself in Queensland, Australia. We are looking forward to working with Adani to build Carbon Energy's UCG project base in India'.
Harsh Mishra, Adani Group's President - Corporate Planning commented 'Adani has selected Carbon Energy as our technology partner for this important submission to Coal India as it is the leading proponent of UCG globally and it has superiority in UCG technology based on extensive research conducted in conjunction with Australia's CSIRO.'
The Memorandum of Understanding is for a period of 18 months during which it is anticipated that Adani and Carbon Energy will jointly prepare and submit a bid to establish a UCG project on Coal India tenements in India. If the bid is successful, Adani will bear all costs throughout the exploration phase, including Carbon Energy's reasonable costs, until exploration has been successfully conducted and a suitable UCG resource established. Adani and Carbon Energy then anticipate forming a joint venture company in India in which Adani will have a 75% share and commitment and Carbon Energy will have a 25% share and commitment.
India is currently among the top three fastest growing economies of the world. Consequently, India's energy needs are rapidly expanding with its increased industrialisation and capacity addition in power generation. Coal is the most dominant source of energy in India's energy mix.
About Carbon Energy Limited:
Carbon Energy's purpose is to produce clean energy and chemicals feedstock from Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) syngas.
Carbon Energy's unique approach to UCG and syngas production produces a low cost option for capturing CO2 making it a leader in clean coal technology.
Carbon Energy's ambition is for syngas to become the preferred feedstock for producing clean coal power stations, an alternative to oil-based fuel, agribusiness products (fertilisers and explosives), polyolefin products (such as plastics) and allowing for economic carbon capture.
Carbon Energy's technological advantage comes from its association with CSIRO including world class geotechnical, hydrological and gasification modelling capabilities.
Carbon Energy is building an international portfolio of coal assets, suitable for UCG with close proximity to markets.
Contact:
Andrew Dash
Managing Director
Carbon Energy Limited
Tel: +61-7-3337-9944
Fax: +61-7-3337-9944
http://www.carbonenergy.com.au
