Kestrel Absorption Chiller Project (Revoked)

The Kestrel Absorption Chiller Project was an industrial energy efficiency project located at the Kestrel Coal Mine, approximately 40 kilometres north-east of Emerald in Central Queensland. Registered in September 2022 by Helmont Carbon Abatement Pty Ltd, the project operated within the Bowen Basin, a region heavily characterized by coal mining operations interspersed with cattle grazing and cropping on the area's fertile, dark cracking clay soils (Vertosols). The region experiences a sub-tropical to semi-arid climate with hot summers and rainfall concentrated in the summer months.

The project aimed to reduce emissions under the Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction (ICER) 2021 methodology. This methodology credits activities that improve energy efficiency or reduce emissions from industrial processes, such as upgrading HVAC systems or switching energy sources. Specifically, this project proposed the installation of an absorption chiller, a device that utilizes waste heat (likely from mine ventilation or onsite generation) to drive a cooling cycle, thereby displacing the electricity required by conventional mechanical air conditioning or process cooling.

On 15 February 2024, the project was voluntarily revoked under section 30 of the CFI Rule. This revocation occurred shortly after Kestrel Coal registered its own large-scale "Coal Mine Waste Gas Powerstation" project in December 2023. It is likely that the specific absorption chiller initiative proposed by Helmont was either superseded by Kestrel Coal's broader, site-wide decarbonisation strategy, which includes a 30MW waste gas power station and a ventilation air methane (VAM) abatement system funded by the Queensland Government's Low Emissions Investment Partnerships, or incorporated into these larger infrastructure upgrades.