New Facility at Mongstad Will Assess Post-Combustion Systems at Pilot-Scale
Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
04/27/12
An early supporter of carbon capture and storage technology that has seen its demonstration program slow in recent years, the Norwegian government is pinning its hopes of maintaining a leadership role in field on a new technology research center set to open next month. Through Gassnova and Statoil, its CCS RD&D arm and majority state-run oil company, respectively, the Norwegian government is preparing to unveil its 5.77 billion kroner ($985 million) post-combustion carbon capture technology research center May 7.
The industrial complex, known as the European Carbon Dioxide Test Center Mongstad (TCM), is a joint venture between the Norwegian government, Statoil, Shell and South Africa’s Sasol and is situated on Norway’s western coast at a site near Statoil’s Mongstad oil rig. The facility has a capture capacity of roughly 100,000 tons of CO2 and is tasked with testing and eventually finding the world’s most cost-effective post-combustion capture methods. In two large pilot-scale lots onsite, Alstom will test its chilled ammonia capture process and Aker Clean Carbon will do the same simultaneously with its amine-based capture technology for the next several years. Statoil has also issued a request for interest for other vendors to compete to build a third testing spot on site. It is being billed as the world’s largest testing facility for improving CO2 capture.
‘Notable Venture’
Norwegian officials are hoping that TCM will help glean CCS knowledge and experience that can eventually be disseminated internationally. “In terms of tangible results, this is a very notable venture, not only for Norway but for all of Europe,” Gassnova Managing Director Bjørn-Erik Haugan told GHG in an interview this week. “There are a lot of plans for major projects worldwide that are not coming through, and many are being delayed or cancelled. So I think in terms of actual physical structures and projects happening, this is a very notable international development.”
Haugan said that the testing that will be conducted at TCM will provide larger-scale operating experience to developers that have few chances to do so given the slowed state of the CCS industry. “In terms of large- or full-scale experience, there is very little experience available and few suppliers that have actually constructed these plants at a near full-scale. So I think we’ll gain experience in improving the use of these chemicals that will reduce the parasitic energy loss of these technologies,” Haugan said, adding that the tests will help point out scale-up issues that are often hard or impossible to glean on the bench- or pilot-scale. Haugan will be presenting on TCM at next week’s Eleventh Annual Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Conference in Pittsburgh.
High-Stakes Venture
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility will include Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and several other senior-level European Union politicians among those scheduled to attend. The event is a particularly high-profile one for a program that has in recent years experienced a string of delays related to its demonstration scale project also set for Mongstad. Norway has tried to position itself over the last two decades as a global leader in CCS. The Norwegian government helped fund two pioneer projects in the North Sea at Sleipner in 1996 and Snøhvit in 2008. Even higher expectations were placed on the country’s flagship demonstration project set to take place at Mongstad. In a 2007 speech, Stoltenberg called the project the technological equivalent to the country’s “moon landing.”
However, in recent years the country’s commitment has seemingly waned in relation to the full-scale Mongstad venture. The 350 MW project has faced a string of delays, with the government most recently postponing an investment decision on the project until 2016, citing uncertainties surrounding the degradation products of emitted amine solvents after they degrade in the atmosphere. Also adding to uncertainties were recent local press reports saying that Statoil was considering closing its Mongstad refinery—and along with it plans for the CCS demonstration project—due to higher than expected operating costs and overcapacity in the oil market. However, company and government officials told GHG earlier this month that despite the refinery facing substantial financial difficulties, operations will continue and that the CCS plans are safe.
Credible Effort?
Haugan said that TCM is indicative of the Norwegian government’s commitment to CCS. “The idea that this is not happening on the fast track is completely wrong. It does demonstrate the steadfast commitment by the Norwegian government and Parliament to support development of CCS technology,” he said.
Despite assurances from the Norwegian government, some CCS advocates in Norway have said they are not as convinced of the country’s commitment to the technology. Paal Frisvold, chairman of the Norwegian-based Bellona Foundation, described TCM as a “big step in the right direction,” but added that he does not believe the government’s claims that it is committed to moving forward on a timely demonstration project. “I hope it will not be an excuse for not getting back [to work on the commercial-scale project], because clearly this is not sufficient,” Frisvold said in an interview with GHG. “It is a very important step, but it is an insufficient one. We need to test this technology at full-scale.”
