Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
9/11/2015
Carbon captured from power generation or industrial sources can be injected into offshore geological storage formations in multiple sites safely if done correctly, according to a report released this week by Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS). “The results of CO2 MultiStore research have also highlighted how use of existing knowledge and data can be extended to further increase confidence for investment in commercial-scale carbon storage in multi-user stores and in the Captain Sandstone,” the report says.
The Captain Sandstone formation contains the Goldeneye Field, the intended storage site for Shell’s Peterhead carbon capture and storage projects, currently in the design stage, which will be located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
In the SCCS CO2 MultiStore project, the research consortium investigated a model case in which CO2 was injected into the Captain Sandstone from two locations. The injections were staggered to demonstrate the potential progression of CCS deployment. The second injection begins five years after the first, indicating a gap between an initial CCS demonstration project and an eventual second generation project.
Cooperation and access to data will be key to the successful implementation of a multi-site injection model, according to the report. Five activities are suggested to increase confidence in storage site performance prediction:
- Information, knowledge and data from hydrocarbon production should be made accessible for the assessment of offshore CO2 storage resources.
- Depleted hydrocarbon fields that are within prospective multiuser stores should be identified and assessed for the impact of storage site development.
- Options to optimize storage capacity by the development of two or more injection sites in a regional storage formation by different pressure management strategies should be assessed and compared.
- Opportunities to optimize geological storage of CO2 and hydrocarbon recovery by assessing the operation of an integrated multi-user CO2 store and enhanced oil recovery project should be studied.
- Historical information from hydrocarbon fields along the Captain Sandstone fairway should be used to refine geomechanical stability modelling of CO2 injection to maximize storage capacity in the Captain Sandstone.
“This research confirms how the huge CO2 storage resource potential beneath the North Sea can be optimised, which, combined with the infrastructure already in place, again reinforces the huge opportunity for Scotland around CCS,” Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said of the report in an SCCS release.
