European energy giants form carbon storage alliance

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Statoil, Shell and Total have formed a partnership that will see the three European energy companies develop a carbon storage facility on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

carbon storage

 

The project, which is part of wider Norwegian government plans for carbon capture and storage (CCS), is estimated to reach a capacity of around 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year. Initially sequestered from onshore industrial facilities in eastern Norway, the CO2 will be transported by ship to a receiving terminal on the country’s west coast.

After being transferred to intermediate storage tanks, the CO2 will then be sent through a seabed pipeline to injection wells east of the Statoil-operated Troll gas field on the NCS. According to lead partner Statoil, the project could be the first in the world to receive industrial CO2 from several countries.

“Statoil believes that without carbon capture and storage, it is not realistic to meet the global climate target as defined in the Paris Agreement,” said Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil’s executive vice president for New Energy Solutions.

“A massive scale up of number of CCS projects are needed and collaboration and sharing of knowledge are essential to accelerating the development. We are very pleased to have Shell and Total as partners and believe their experience and capabilities will further strengthen this project. We trust that this robust partnership is well positioned to develop this first-of-a-kind project.”

Norske Shell and Total E&P Norge will be equal partners in the project under Statoil’s lead, and will contribute both personnel and financial resources. CCS represents an opportunity for energy companies to offset emissions from hydrocarbons, potentially protecting their business models as tighter climate regulations come into force.

“Total is integrating the climate challenge into its strategy,” said Philippe Sauquet, Total’s president for Gas, Renewables & Power, as well as Strategy-Innovation.

“Total’s involvement in this first commercial-scale storage project, is thus fully aligned with our low carbon roadmap and our strategy to ultimately become a global CCUS (Carbon capture, utilisation and storage) leader. The aim of this first integrated industrial-scale project, supported by the Norwegian government, is to develop viable, reproducible commercial CCUS model in view of carrying out other major projects around the world.”