Gassnova has assigned Statoil to evaluate the development of carbon storage on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). This will be the 1st storage site in the world receiving CO2 from several industrial sources.
The storage project is part of Norwegian authorities' efforts to develop full-scale carbon capture and storage in Norway.
It will capture CO2 from three onshore industrial facilities in Eastern Norway and transport CO2 by ship from the capture area to a receiving plant onshore located on the west-coast of Norway.
At the receiving plant CO2 will be pumped over from the ship to tanks onshore, prior to being sent through pipelines on the seabed to several injection wells east of the Troll field on the NCS.
There are several possible locations for the receiving plant, and the final choice will be based on criteria such as safety, costs and expansion flexibility.
Gassnova has previously been awarded the assignments for carbon capture and transportation in the project.
The storage solution to be evaluated by Statoil will have the potential to receive CO2 from both Norwegian and European emission sources.
The results of studies performed in 2016 show that it is technically feasible to realise a carbon capture and storage chain in Norway.
The next phase of the project, which Statoil has been assigned to perform, will involve concept and pre-engineering studies in order to evaluate the possibilities in more detail, and to get accurate cost estimates towards a possible investment decision.
An investment decision for project implementation is expected to be made by the Norwegian Parliament in 2019.
The technologies for carbon capture and storage in geological formations are known and established.
There are 21 full-scale carbon capture and storage projects worldwide in the development or operations phase.
Statoil's CCS projects at Sleipner and Snøhvit are among these, and have given Statoil more than 20 years of operational carbon storage experience.
Hydrogen produced from natural gas generates CO2 as a by-product, and with a value chain for CO capture, transportation and storage it will be possible to further examine a full-scale value chain for hydrogen, which is a low-carbon energy solution with potentials within both power, heating and transportation.
