The Global CCS Institute has announced the first set of projects to receive support as part of its knowledge sharing brokerage efforts to overcome key barriers facing large-scale, integrated carbon capture storage (CCS) demonstration projects around the world.

“Despite ongoing research and existence of operating demonstration projects, CCS is still an emerging technology,” said Nick Otter, CEO. “A key factor in its uptake will be the ability to use the knowledge now being developed to accelerate new and existing projects.”

“The projects we are funding have been selected across the range of technology, regulatory, policy and financial hurdles that must be addressed.”

Knowledge will be captured from different stages of project life cycle, across technologies and geographic regions. The Institute will share this knowledge with the broader industry via workshops, thematic group discussions and one-on-one meetings.

The Institute’s newly launched digital knowledge platform will serve as a central repository for project experience and other CCS information.

“Our support for these early movers will provide the Institute with access to valuable hands-on knowledge that we will share with our Members and the broader industry,” Nick said.

“It is this dissemination of valuable know-how and lessons learned that can help speed up the commercial deployment of CCS technologies.”

The six initial projects – in Australia, the United States, Romania and the Netherlands – are receiving some AU$18 million. They were selected from over 50 submissions received from across the world in response to the Institute’s initial request for proposals.

The announcement was welcomed by project proponents, who issued press releases and promoted their work in the various regions. A number of news articles resulted throughout Australia, the United States and parts of Europe.

In Australia, Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, also issued a press release welcoming the announcement. He said: “I am confident that the Institute’s knowledge-sharing approach will accelerate the development and deployment of CCS technologies.”

More support announcements are expected in coming months, as the Institute continues negotiations with a number of additional projects around the world.

Australian project details:

• CarbonNet (Latrobe Valley, Victoria). AU$2.3 million for studies to advance commercial modelling for a hub concept. Funding will be provided through the Institute’s strategic partnership with the Clinton Foundation. CarbonNet will also receive AU$220,000 to conduct an initial framing study into a technical framework for the measurement, monitoring and validation of stored CO₂. The full scope of this work will then be conducted as a collaborative exercise with key Australian CCS stakeholders.
• Callide Oxyfuel Project (South East Queensland). The Callide Oxyfuel Project and the Institute have signed a Letter of Intent to iscuss funding a AU$1.83 million work program to support Stage 2 of the project to facilitate an injection test of CO₂ into a potential storage site in the Northern Denison Trough and other locations in south east Queensland. Stage 1 of the project – construction scheduled for completion around mid 2011 - focuses on demonstrating CO₂ capture at the Callide A Power Station.

European project details:

• Rotterdam CCS Network (Rotterdam, Netherlands). AU$2.2 million for an independent assessment of the storage sites in the North Sea; a feasibility study into transport options for CO₂, including shipping and a detailed case study outlining the benefits to projects in creating joint partnerships between multiple industries and organisations.
• Romanian CCS Demonstration Project (Oltenia, Romania). AU$2.55 million to conduct a feasibility study for a CO₂ capture, transportation and storage demonstration project. The study will review the project scope and objectives, technologies to be used and examine the overall costs and schedule for the full chain project. The initiative aims to capture 1.5Mtpa of CO₂ emissions from an existing unit of the Turceni power plant and transport it via existing onshore natural gas pipelines, with plans to store the CO₂ in onshore saline aquifers near the power plant.

American project details:

• Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center (Sweetwater, Texas). AU$8.03 million in support of concept definition studies into the development of a new 600-megawatt (net) sub-bituminous coal-fired power station with 85 to 90 per cent CO₂ capture. Numerous technical, commercial and lessons learned papers will be generated.
• Tenaska New Technologies/Entergy Corporation (Westlake, Louisiana). AU$825,600 to support CO₂ capture development studies for the retrofit of Entergy’s Roy S Nelson power plant as the project moves closer to concept definition. Studies focus on CO₂ capture technology selection and engineering, procurement and construction contractor selection studies. This project is subject to a second phase of funding from the Institute, pending certain conditions being met.

View the press release of the project funding announcement