Dyno Nobel invests $20m in Moranbah plant to lower GHG emissions

Dyno Nobel’s Moranbah plant today officially opened a $20 million nitrous oxide abatement project as part of its commitment to the region, its customers and decarbonisation.

The project is expected to have a lifespan of 20 years and will abate approximately 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per annum which is comparable to taking almost 50,000 cars off the road or planting more than three million trees a year.

The project works by converting nitrous oxide emissions from manufacturing nitric acid to naturally occurring nitrogen and oxygen, removing more than 95% of nitrous oxide emissions from the process of making explosives products for the mining industry.

The project is also expected to reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions for Dyno Nobel’s customers.
  
Taking part in the official opening at Moranbah today, Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) CEO & Managing Director Mauro Neves said: “We are proud to officially open this innovative project and celebrate today at Moranbah with the skilled and dedicated team behind its successful installation and operation.

“The project is already working to reduce Dyno Nobel’s and IPL’s GHG emissions and, in turn, those of our valued mining customers who rely on our explosive products to extract vital minerals and resources for Australians and export markets,” Mr Neves said. 

“Our $20 million investment in this project is part of our commitment to the region, to our customers and our decarbonisation efforts. Dyno Nobel has been part of the Moranbah community for more than 15 years, supporting regional jobs and ongoing production in the nationally important Bowen Basin metallurgical coal industry.”

Dyno Nobel President Asia Pacific Greg Hayne, who also joined the official opening at Moranbah today, said the project was safely installed over two weeks following many months of planning that ensured minimal disruption to customers.

“This project is a significant investment in our strategically located Moranbah plant. We’re proud it was safely installed utilising the expertise of our own highly experienced people onsite, as well as IPL’s global Health Safety and Environment centre of excellence, regional expertise and world leaders in N2O abatement,” Mr Hayne said. 

“Importantly for our customers, the project will mean we produce explosives products with a lower GHG footprint, reducing their upstream scope 3 GHG emissions.”

Customers can expect to benefit from a reduction in their upstream scope 3 GHG emissions by more than 0.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of ammonium nitrate used.

The project’s first full year of benefits will be in FY2025 and will equate to a reduction of up to 12% in Dyno Nobel’s global operational GHG emissions against its 2020 baseline. This equates to a reduction of 7% in the operational GHG emissions of parent company IPL, against IPL’s 2020 baseline.

This is one of several decarbonisation projects that provides IPL with a potential 42% operational GHG reduction by 2030 and will help achieve IPL’s ambition to be Net Zero by 2050 or sooner.