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Caring for Country in Australia to protect First Nation Land

Two Australian men on the beach

Our activities in Australia focus on exploration, development, hydrocarbon and natural gas production and the renewables market. Through the Caring for Country project we care for the land and cultural heritage, involving communities in interventions that safeguard biodiversity. In the Northern Territory of Australia, where our Yelcherr gas-fired power station provides access to energy to the neighbouring community of Wadeye, we communicate with local governments and implement local development and environmental conservation projects. The Bonaparte offshore basin is home to the Blacktrip gas field, which has been part of the Caring for Country project since 2006. During the development of the project, surveys and consultations were carried out with the population to establish the value of their cultural heritage, their connection to their homeland and the conditions for long-term land use.

Main project features

Activity start date: 2019 - present

Australia

Access to off-grid energy
Access to off-grid energy
Territory protection
Territory protection
Community health
Community health

SDG 3 Health and Well-being
SDG 14 Life Under Water
SDG 15 Life on Earth
SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals

Australian Government
Northern Land Council
Thamarrurr Development Corporation (TDC)
Australian Department of Environment and Energy
Australian Institute of Marine Science

Project actions and objectives

Securing energy while safeguarding the environment and culture

The development of the Blacktip gas field proceeds in tandem with the support activities of the Thamarrurr Rangers, a group of local communities working in land, coastal and wildlife monitoring. This collaboration includes training courses to learn how to use state-of-the-art technological systems and monitor impacts on biodiversity. Thanks to all this, we are able to implement the infrastructure that provides the electricity supply to neighbouring Badeye, without damaging the environmental and cultural heritage in the Australian Northern Territory.

A programme to protect sea turtles

Yelcherr Beach is the area used, during the construction of the Yelcherr gas-fired power plant, to house a temporary facility for unloading  modules (MOF) and facilitating the delivery of prefabs and other items required for the construction of the plant. The Turtle Management Plan is the programme that has allowed the sea turtles nesting in the area to continue breeding undisturbed, despite ongoing work. To avoid interrupting the natural cycle, activities were concentrated between the nesting season and the wetter season, and only during daylight hours, so as to allow the turtles to move freely at night, when they are used to laying eggs.

Other initiatives to support the territory

We support the health and inclusion of local communities through a range of programmes. The North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas, a laboratory of Charles Darwin University, for example, has hi-tech equipment to conduct projects relating to education and research. In the health sector, particularly in terms of prevention, we offer women paths to early detection of breast cancer. In addition, the Brown's Mart Theatre in the city of Darwin has a new layout and new lighting systems. Thanks to the agreement with the Northern Territory Power and Water Corporation, we also sell gas for domestic use to the entire Northern Territory of Australia and, by means of the new gas-fired power station.

Highlights
>3 k
inhabitants

of the Wadeye community have access to energy


18 k
km²

of territory patrolled by Thamarrurr Rangers


1,6 k

houses and companies in Wadeye powered by the new gas-fired power plant


>3 k
inhabitants

of the Wadeye community have access to energy

18 k
km²

of territory patrolled by Thamarrurr Rangers

1,6 k

houses and companies in Wadeye powered by the new gas-fired power plant

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