The Perth-based junior said it has created the new company Hybrid Energy to take over ownership of its resource titles in the region, in a bid to progress its FuturGas project.

Strike said it planned to float the new entity on the Australian Securities Exchange in the first half of 2008.

To be based in Adelaide, Hybrid Energy will be responsible for the proposed FuturGas project, which involves the application of the latest combustion, gasification, and carbon capture storage technologies to a large lignite resource.

From this 578 million tonne coal resource, Strike plans to generate low greenhouse emissions power, gas, transport fuels and other products.

Initially, the project is expected to provide 150-300MW of base load electricity into the South Australian market by 2015.

Strike said it would examine the project’s feasibility over the next two years.

Hybrid Energy will be headed by former TRUenergy senior executive Barry Ford, who Strike said was experienced in managing large energy infrastructure projects including projects in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.