Santos has indicated that the financial model for the Moomba CCS project was predicated on a $70 per tonne carbon price. While ACCU prices had yet to hit that threshold, they were much closer to that mark before the Regulator’s recent change in position regarding ACCU contracts.
As RenewEconomy has covered, selling these ACCUs into the more lucrative open market could deliver a windfall gain for carbon traders. Even under the much lower ACCU prices, project proponents stand to gain an extra $5 per ACCU.