Clean coal project for WA

Rio Tinto PLC
21 May 2007



BP and Rio Tinto plan clean coal project for Western Australia


BP and Rio Tinto today announced that they are beginning feasibility studies and
work on plans for the potential development of a A$2 billion (US$1.5 billion)
coal-fired power generation project at Kwinana in Western Australia that would
be fully integrated with carbon capture and storage to reduce its emissions of
greenhouse gases.

This will be the first new project for Hydrogen Energy, the new company launched
by BP and Rio Tinto last week, subject to regulatory approval.

The planned project would be an industrial-scale coal-fired power and carbon
capture and storage project. It would generate enough electricity to meet 15 per
cent of the demand of south west Western Australia, while each year capturing
and permanently storing about four million tonnes of carbon dioxide which
otherwise would have been emitted to the atmosphere.

The project would gasify locally-produced coal from the Collie region to produce
hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen would be used to fuel the power
station and around 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide would be captured and
stored permanently in a deep underground geological formation.

The costs of this low-carbon hydrogen-fuelled power generation are higher than
those of traditional power generation. For the project to be economic and able
to compete effectively in the electricity market, it would require appropriate
policy support and a regulatory environment which recognises and encourages the
low-carbon benefits it can deliver.

Subject to the successful outcome of detailed engineering and commercial
studies, and providing government policy is in place to make the project
commercially viable, a final investment decision to develop the project could be
made in 2011, with the project coming into operation after a three year
construction period.

Speaking at today's announcement in Perth, Lewis Gillies, named last week as
chief executive of Hydrogen Energy, said:

''This has enormous potential to affect the way that coal will be used for power
generation across the world. Clean coal technology such as this will be
essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, both in Australia and globally.

'This project could play an important role in influencing our future power mix,
strengthening Australia's energy security while also minimising our impact on
the environment. Hydrogen Energy is now working to deploy this technology as
widely and rapidly as it practically can.'

The project's gasification facility and power station would be located in
Kwinana, 45km south of Perth, alongside BP's refinery and Rio Tinto's HIsmelt
facility. The power station would be capable of producing 500 megawatts of
low-carbon electricity or enough power for half a million homes. At the same
time, about four million tonnes of CO2 each year would be captured, transported
and permanently and securely stored in a geological formation deep beneath the
seabed of the Perth basin. This would be the first hydrogen-fuelled power
project to store CO2 in a saline formation, a type of geological structure which
is more common globally than suitable oil and gas reservoirs.

Kwinana is an ideal location for a project of this type. The availability of a
suitable site immediately adjacent to BP's refinery, Rio Tinto's HIsmelt plant
and other industrial operations which may benefit from its output provides
synergies and potential additional revenue streams that greatly assist the
commercial viability of the project. Increasing power demand combined with
growth in the Perth area also provides an attractive market for new power
generation.

Plans are also underway for the proposed development of two other hydrogen power
projects, at Peterhead, Scotland, and at Carson, California, USA.


Notes to editors:

• For further information on Hydrogen Energy see: www.hydrogenenergy.com

• Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the
  UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London listed public company, and Rio Tinto
  Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The Group 
  finds, mines and processes the earth's mineral resources - metals and minerals
  essential for making thousands of everyday products that meet society's needs
  and contribute to improved living standards. The Group's major products 
  include aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy products (coal and uranium), gold,
  industrial minerals (borates, titanium dioxide, salt and talc), and iron ore.
  Its activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and
  North America. There are also significant businesses in South America, Asia,
  Europe and southern Africa. For further information see: www.riotinto.com

• BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies with operations in more 
  than 100 countries across six continents. The company's main businesses
  are exploration and production of oil and gas; refining, manufacturing and
  marketing of oil products and petrochemicals; transportation and marketing of
  natural gas; and a growing business in renewable and low-carbon power, BP
  Alternative Energy. BP's low carbon interests combined in BP Alternative 
  Energy include: BP Solar; the company's fast growing interests in wind power; 
  gas-fired power generation; and BP's interest in Hydrogen Energy. For further 
  information see: www.bp.com and www.bpalternativeenergy.com.




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