Factbox: Carbon capture and storage projects across Europe

Network CN

28/12/2022 13:57

By Nerijus Adomaitis and Dina Kartit
       Dec 28 (Reuters) - Efforts to remove carbon dioxide
(CO2) from the atmosphere and store it underground storage have
gained steam across Europe over the past few years as industries
and governments seek to reduce emissions to meet their climate
goals. 
    Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology removes CO2
emissions from the atmosphere and stores them underground. Some
of the captured CO2 can also potentially be used in a range of
industrial applications.
    There are around 70 existing or planned CCS projects in
Europe, according to the International Association of Oil and
Gas Producers. Here are some under development: 
        NORTH SEA
    NORWAY     
    * Northern Lights, a joint venture project by Equinor
 EQNR.OL , TotalEnergies  TTEF.PA  and Shell  SHELL.L . It plans
to start injecting up to 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of
CO2 into saline acquifer near the Troll gas field from the
middle of 2024. There are plans to increase storage capacity to
5-6 mtpa from 2026, pending demand.
    
    * Smeaheia, a project by Equinor to develop a storage site
in the North Sea with a potential to inject up to 20 mtpa from
2027/2028. Equinor, which was awarded the exploration license in
2022, said it is looking at injecting the CO2 captured from its
own hydrogen production, as well as some industrial customers in
Europe. The company aims to make the final investment decision
in 2025. 
          
    * Luna, a project led by German Wintershall Dea  WINT.UL ,
to store up to 5 mtpa of CO2 at a site some 120km west of
Bergen. Wintershall Dea and its Norwegian partner Cape Omega
were awarded exploration license in October. Wintershall Dea has
60% stake and Norway's Cape Omega the remaining 40% in the
license.
    
    * Errai, a joint project by Britain's Neptune Energy and
Norway's Horisont Energi  HRGI.OL , to develop a storage site in
the North Sea with 4-8 mtpa capacity and a receiving terminal
onshore. The partners still need to apply for the license.  
    BRITAIN
    * Acorn CCS, a project off the coast of Scotland to develop
a storage site with an annual capacity of 5-10 mtpa of CO2 by
2030. Storegga, Shell and Harbour Energy each hold 30% stakes
and North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP) the remaining 10% in the
project.
    
    * Viking CCS, a project formerly known as V Net Zero and led
by independent oil and gas firm Harbour Energy  HBR.L , aims to
store up to 10 mtpa of CO2 by 2030 at depleted gas fields in the
southern North Sea. It plans to start injecting CO2 in 2027,
initially at a rate of 2 mtpa of CO2.
    
     * Northern Endurance, a BP-led  BP.L  partnership that aims
to develop infrastructure to transport and store about 20 mtpa
of CO2 captured at two industrial clusters in Teesside and
Humberside from 2030. The project plans to transport CO2 via
pipelines to a storage site some 145 km offshore in the southern
North Sea. Other partners in the project are National Grid
 NG.L , Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies. 
    
    NETHERLANDS
    * Porthos, a project by the port of Rotterdam, Gasunie and
EBN, aims to store 2.5 mtpa of CO2 in depleted Dutch gas fields
in the North Sea. All storage capacity has been already
contracted by 4 industrial partners: Air Liquide  AIRP.PA , Air
Products  APD.N , ExxonMobil  XOM.N  and Shell. The project
planned to start CO2 injections in 2024-2025, but the startup is
likely to be delayed due to legal hurdles.
    
    * L10, a project led by Neptune Energy, to store 4-5 mtpa of
CO2 in a depleted gas field in the Dutch North Sea, with first
injections expected to start in 2026. Other partners in the
project are ExxonMobil, Rosewood Exploration and state-owned
EBN.
                
    DENMARK
    * Greensand, a project led by INEOS Energy  INEO.NS  and
Wintershall Dea, plans to start injecting up to 1.5 mtpa of CO2
from 2025 into depleted oil and gas fields in the Danish section
of the North Sea, and increasing capacity to 8 mtpa by 2030.
                      
    * Bifrost, a project led by TotalEnergies, aims to inject up
to 3 mtpa of CO2 into a depleted oil and gas field in the Danish
section of the North Sea from 2027. The project also involves
Orsted  ORSTED.CO , which operates offshore pipelines, and the
Technical University of Denmark. Areas beyond Bifrost could be
explored for potentially injecting up to 10 mtpa by 2030.
                
    GERMANY
    * Wilhelmshaven CO2 export terminal, a project led by
Wintershall Dea to build a CO2 liquefaction and temporary
storage facility at Wilhelmshaven, Germany's only deep-water
port, and then the CO2 could be shipped or piped to permanent
storage sites under the North Sea. It aims to initially handle
about 1 mtpa of CO2 from 2026. 
        
    
    OTHER STORAGE POINTS
    BRITAIN
    * HyNet North West project aims to convert gas and fuel gas
from the Stanlow refinery in Cheshire into low-carbon hydrogen,
capturing and transferring the CO2 produced during the process
by pipelines to offshore storage in the Liverpool Bay.
Pre-existing salt caverns in Cheshire will also be used as
storage. Operations are expected to start in 2025 and will store
about 4.5 mtpa of CO2, rising to 10 mtpa by 2030. 
    BULGARIA
    * ANRAV, a project lead by private Irish energy company
Petroceltic, will link CO2 capture facilities at
HeidelbergCement's  HEIG.DE  Devnya cement plant in
north-eastern Bulgaria with offshore permanent storage in the
depleted Black Sea gas field of Galata. Expected to start
operations in 2028, it will have a capacity of 800,000 tonnes of
CO2 per year.
    FRANCE
    * PYCASSO, a project capturing carbon from industries in the
south-west of France and in the north of Spain and storing it in
a depleted gas field in Aquitaine. The project is planned to
transport about 1 mtpa of CO2 by 2030.
    ICELAND
    * The Coda Terminal will be a cross-border carbon transport
and storage hub in Straumsvík, operated by Icelandic carbon
storage firm Carbfix. CO2 captured from industrial firms will be
shipped to the terminal to be dissolved in water before being
injected into basalt bedrock. The operations, scaled up in
steps, is set to reach up to 3 mtpa of CO₂ from 2031.
    * The Silverstone project, coordinated by Carbfix, will
deploy commercial scale CO2 capture, dissolve CO2 in water and
inject it into underground basalt rock for mineral storage into
the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant, near Mount Hengill.
Silverstone will capture and store about 25.000 tonnes of CO2 a
year. It is expected to start up in the first quarter of 2025.
    ITALY
    * CCS Ravenna Hub, led by energy company Eni  ENI.MI  is a
project to capture CO2 and transport it into offshore depleted
gas reservoirs off the coast of Ravenna, in the Adriatic Sea.
The first phase of the project is scheduled in 2023. The full
capture, transport and storage chain will handle up to 100,000
mtpa of CO2.
    IRELAND
    * The Cork CCS project aims to store carbon captured from
Irish industrial facilities into a depleted gas field in the
Celtic Sea, potentially re-using an existing pipeline for
transport. The project is lead by utility Ervia.
    SWEDEN
    * Slite CCS, a CCS project lead by HeidelbergCement and its
Swedish subsidiary Cementa, at its Slite cement plant on the
Swedish island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It aims to capture
up to 1.8 mtpa of CO2, about 3% of the country's total
emissions.
 (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Dina Kartit, edited by Nina
Chestney)
 ((nerijus.adomaitis@thomsonreuters.com ;
dina.kartit@thomsonreuters.com;))