Experts from academia, government and industry have signed a collaborative research agreement intended to provide “invaluable knowledge to reduce risk and guide the development of commercial multi-user carbon dioxide storage sites offshore UK.
Lessons learned from the CO2MultiStore project, and the resulting transferable knowledge, will apparently inform leasing and licensing needs for such sites.
According to Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage, they could be developed for the secure and permanent containment of millions of tonnes of CO2 captured from power plants and industrial facilities.
Crucially, says SCCS, the knowledge gained should help to reduce the risks to the economic and business case for offshore CO2 storage, providing reassurance to potential developers and investors.
Results would be fed into the development of both the leasing and regulatory frameworks for the transport and storage needed by the UK’s emerging carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry.
Researchers on the CO2MultiStore project will predict the effect of injecting CO2 into two potential storage sites within an extensive sandstone more than half a mile beneath the sea bed in the UK Central North Sea.
The study will use 3D computer models created from data collected for oil and gas exploration, and will benefit from the input of industry knowledge and expertise in CO2 geological storage.
The project is supported by the Scottish Government, The Crown Estate, Scottish Enterprise and Shell. It is led by researchers from Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS), a partnership of British Geological Survey (BGS), Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh.
A collaborative study published by SCCS two years ago indicated that the sandstone being further investigated by CO2MultiStore could potentially store at least 15 years, and potentially up to a century’s worth, of Scotland’s CO2 emissions.
Fore readers less familiar with the topic, CO2MultiStore is a joint industry project being undertaken by SCCS and supported by the Scottish Government, The Crown Estate, Scottish Enterprise and Shell.
The CO2MultiStore study will use the same geological formation as two of the four main projects put forward into the UK government’s commercialisation competition as the basis for the research. One of these projects is a preferred bidder, the other is in reserve.
Dr Maxine Akhurst, of the SCCS directorate and leader of the CO2MultiStore project for BGS, said: “The CO2MultiStore research investigates how multiple CO2 storage sites can be developed in the vast sandstones present offshore UK, and so contribute to the UK’s ambition to achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2050.”
Akhurst will be giving a presentation on the CO2MultiStore project at All-Energy today (Wednesday May 22).
Ward Goldthorpe, CCS programme manager for The Crown Estate, said: “The Crown Estate is the holder of rights to offshore CO2 storage capacity around the UK. This project will help develop leasing structures and processes, and will contribute to reducing risks to the economic and business case for the development of multi-user regional CO2 storage assets.”
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