CCS In Operation
CCS By Region
The IEA Greenhouse Gas Programme provides a comprehensive list of CCS projects classified by project region and project type. This can be accessed at: http://www.co2captureandstorage.info/search.php
Commercial Scale CCS Project Activities
Across the world there are four commercial-scale, integrated CCS projects in operation. These projects are either motivated by, or linked to oil and gas production.
Sleipner project in Norway (StatoilHydro + partners in Sleipner license)
Since 1996. More than 1 million tonnes per year (Mt/a) of CO2 has been captured during natural gas extraction and re-injected 1,000m below the sea floor into the Utsira saline formation.
In Salah project in Algeria (BP with Statoil and Sonatrach as partners)
Since 2004. About 1 Mt/a of CO2 has been captured during natural gas extraction and injected into the Krechba geologic formation at a depth of 1,800m.
Snøhvit in Norway (Petoro, StatoilHydro, TotalFinaElf, Gaz de France, Amerada Hess, RWE-DEA, Svenska Petroleum)
This liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant captures 0.7 Mt/a of CO2 and injects it into the Tubåen sandstone formation 2,600m under the seabed for storage.
Weyburn-Midale project in Canada (EnCana – Apache)
This project captures about 2.8 Mt/a of CO2 from a coal gasification plant located in North Dakota, USA, transports this by pipeline 320 km across the Canadian border and injects it into depleting oil fields where it is used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).
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Pilot Plant Projects
There are three pilot plant projects which are focused on specific elements in the carbon capture and storage process in the energy sector.
Ketzin CO2 storage pilot near Berlin, Germany (GeoForschungs Zentrum Potsdam)
Since June 2008. Two observation wells and a series of different technologies allow on-land testing of monitoring techniques without disturbing industrial activities and at lower costs than offshore or in a desert. Present plans will allow 20,000 t CO2/year to be injected.
Schwarze Pumpe pilot plant in Germany (Vattenfall)
Since 2008. Based on an oxy-combustion concept, CO2 is captured from the flue gas after deSOx and deNOx processes. It is planned to store CO2 in a depleted gas field (Altmark) operated by Gaz de France.
The Lacq pilot plant in France (Total)
To commence operations in 2009. This is a 30 MW gas boiler which will use oxy-combustion capture technology; CO2 will be transported in a 30 km existing pipe and will be stored in a very deep depleted gas field (4500m).
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