Search

The Rotterdam Opslag en Afvang Demonstratieproject (Rotterdam Storage and Capture Demonstration project), or ROAD, aims to build and operate a 250 MWe equivalent CCS chain using post-combustion capture technology and off-shore storage in a depleted gas field under the North Sea. The capture plant would be retrofitted to a new 1 070 MWe coal-fired unit (Maasvakte Power Plant 3) in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was originally intended to reach a final investment decision at the end of 2010, but the project has faced a series delay associated with permitting, complex commercial negotiations and, most seriously, funding. At the moment (September 2014), the European Commission and the Government of the Netherlands are engaged in a renewed push to solve the funding problems and allow construction to finally start. The project has financial support from the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) and the Government of the Netherlands and is now the only one of the six projects originally supported that still has any realistic prospect of being realized in the short term. This paper presents an update of the overall project development as at the time of GHGT-12 and the accomplished milestones and issues met in the permitting process. In addition, it will focus on the technical and economic aspects of integrating the capture plant with the power plant. Furthermore, it will provide an outlook on future CCS/CCU developments in Rotterdam, describing the steps under development to create a full CO 2 hub in the port including options for ship transport and bio-CCS. The paper concludes with the management of the project delays and the implications for the project economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The CO2CRC Otway Project is a significant carbon dioxide storage research and demonstration facility located in southwest Victoria. The project is researching carbon dioxide injection, transport, storage, monitoring and verification, with 65,000 tonnes stored since 2008 and ongoing research under way. The project supports research into CCS technologies at pore space, reservoir and regional scales. As Australia's first operational carbon dioxide storage project, the Otway Project is an important CCS technology demonstration for the nation, showing that carbon dioxide can be safely injected, stored and effectively monitored. It has informed Australia's CCS legislation and been the subject of much interest domestically and internationally. Stakeholder consultation has been a strong focus for the project since its inception and CO2CRC has been proactive in engaging with the community, regulators and government. The support of the local community, and in particular the landowners surrounding the project, has been vital in achieving social license for operations to date and for continuing research. The project began consulting with the community in 2005, three years before carbon dioxide injection. Following public and individual stakeholder meetings, independent social research was commissioned in 2006 to inform the consultation process, monitor community attitudes to the project and carbon dioxide storage, and provide the community with additional opportunities to comment on the project. This work provided valuable information on attitudes to climate change, levels of understanding of CCS, areas of community concern and preferred methods of communication. The resulting consultation program, informed by this research, has continued throughout the project's life with communication tools and strategies that include newsletters, a website, public meetings, Open Days and a dedicated community liaison officer. In 2011, CO2CRC commissioned a second round of social research, using a similar approach and methods to the initial study. Using qualitative and quantitative methods in the form of telephone surveys and focus groups, the study aimed to assess the project consultation program and to evaluate changes over time in community attitudes and perceptions of the project and CCS in general. Positive results from the second survey included a significant increase in awareness of the project and CCS in the local community, support for continuing research despite a drop in concerns over climate change, and improved relationships with the landowners hosting the project. Areas for improvement included a continuing lack of understanding of CCS technology among members of the wider community, a low profile for the project compared to the large and economically important gas facilities in the area and uncertainty surrounding the ongoing lifespan of the project. This paper presents in detail the results of the 2011 study and sets out the changes identified since 2006. The paper discusses how the interwoven aspects of community awareness, active engagement and technical understanding have helped in achieving acceptance of the project, but also highlights the difficulties of communicating highly technical concepts to a broad and dispersed population. The role of a dedicated, locally-based community liaison officer is discussed as an important method of direct consultation with landowners and a valuable two-way communication channel. The paper sets out the issues that emerged from the 2011 study, how the project is now addressing them and how the lessons learned may have application to other CCS projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper summarises the results from a study that assesses the performance and costs of natural gas fired combined cycle power plants with CCS. Information is provided on the designs of each of the plants, their power output, efficiency, greenhouse gas intensity, capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, levelised costs of electricity and costs of CO2 avoidance. Discussion and commentary on the key findings and recommendations is also included. The paper includes information on base load plant performance and costs, but part load performance and costs of operation at low annual capacity factors are also presented because operation at lower load factors may be necessary, particularly in future electricity systems that include high amounts of other low-CO2 generation plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To date, hardly any field study results are available on responses from lay people in communities that are confronted with the possibility of a local CO2 storage project. This paper describes one of the first of such studies, presenting a case description of an onshore CCS demonstration project in Barendrecht, the Netherlands. The aim of this study is twofold. First, we provide an in-depth analysis of the development of public awareness of an onshore CCS demonstration project in Barendrecht, the Netherlands. Second, by analyzing practices and outcomes, and by linking these to existing knowledge about stakeholder involvement and public communication, we identify a set of conditions for effective communication and involvement strategies. Findings indicate that one important cause of the lack of local acceptance of the project was the absence of a cohesive and timely involvement strategy for discussing the project with local stakeholders as part of the formal decision-making process rather than apart from it. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations for stakeholder involvement in future CCS operations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: ZeroGen Pty Ltd (ZeroGen) recently announced its plan to develop the world’s first commercial-scale 450MW clean coal power plant by 2017 in Queensland, Australia. Since the Queensland Government first announced the project in early 2006, stakeholder engagement activities have been a key priority for ZeroGen. The company understands that stakeholder perceptions, particularly of the safety of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) processes, represent a key challenge to the commercialisation of clean coal technologies. As a result, ZeroGen has developed and implemented an advanced consultation framework to actively engage a wide range of stakeholders to address this challenge. This paper details the consultation framework and outlines the findings of research conducted to assess the perceptions of community leaders where the project’s CCS activities are occurring. The paper confirms that the consultation processes deployed by ZeroGen to date have been successful in overcoming a key challenge to the commercialisation of clean coal technologies involving CCS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The European Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry is still grasping for an effective policy structure which will support deployment of commercial CCS projects. This paper will consider the current context of CCS policy given three significant developments: (a) the agreement in 2014 for a technology neutral 2030 EU emissions reduction target; (b) a binding commitment at COP21 in Paris, Dec 2015, for a global emissions reduction target; (c) the collapse of the UK's CCS Commercialisation Programme in Nov 2015. The period 2010-2015 saw continued stagnation in the European CCS industry, with a series of projects proposed but then subsequently cancelled. This hints as three problems (1) an industry which is weak in communicating why CCS is important, and failed to engage a wider stakeholder base; (2) incumbent governments which are not willing to fund the initially high costs of the first CCS projects; (3) weak market based structures which force industrial consortia to rely on government subsidy, thus leaving projects vulnerable to political forces. The tension within the UK's Commercialisation Programme could still offer lessons for other potential CCS projects in Europe; and inform policy developments at the UK and European level. Namely (i) payment flows between the emitter / capture plant to the transport & storage provider, and the risk apportionment between those partners; (ii) the cost-benefit of oversized infrastructure and the challenges of a first project to finance the bulk of these costs. A recent report to the UK government on CCS recommended state-owned companies delivering all aspects of CCS, but such a recommendation makes it all too easy for a centre-right party focussed on smaller government and tight expenditure to dismiss CCS as “too difficult”. An alternative would be normal commercial and market arrangements for the power & capture section; and a regulated monopoly for the transport & storage infrastructure, backed by the state for risk and liabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BIGCCS Centre is an international research center aiming at extending and releasing the potential for large scale deployment of CO 2 capture and storage. A consistent and transparent methodology and tool, called iCCS, was developed in BIGCCS SP4 as one of the measures aimed at bringing CCS closer to commercial realization. iCCS allows critical evaluation of CCS chains with respect to multiple techno-economic and environmental criteria. The tool has modular structure and enables the user to build different CCS chain configurations from capture, transport and storage modules available in the tool library. This makes it possible to simulate a large number of CCS chains and to compare them in a consistent manner. The philosophy of this methodology and the tool developed are presented in this work and is illustrated through case studies; for example to compare different capture, transport or storage cases, as well as for a full chain analysis. This paper presents a list of case studies performed under the BIGCCS framework and brings together the results of three latest studies. Two of these studies focus on comparison of technologies for CO 2 capture from a) an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, and b) a coal fired power plant and a cement plant. The third case study looks at valuation of CO 2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery. The presented case studies illustrate how the methodology and tool could be used to provide support for technology selection. Additionally, the tool allows smart design and operation of CCS chains and thereby enables selection of most suitable CCS chain configurations for specific cases with respect to techno-economic and environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rapidly training researchers involved in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and advancing fundamental understanding of the entire chain is vital to achieve CCS deployment in a timescale aligned with global emission reduction targets. This paper introduces a number of initiatives that are building UK CCS capacity, focussing on activities involving the academic community such as the UK CCS Research Centre (www.ukccsrc.ac.uk) and a number of postgraduate training programmes. These and other examples illustrate the benefits associated with academic-industry collaboration, as well as providing valuable opportunities to accelerate development of suitably trained people and CCS technology in an academic context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For a commercial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain to be successful, it must satisfy a whole range of requirements: technical, economic, environmental, safety, and societal. A comprehensive, understandable and reproducible assessment of CCS projects is a complex task due to several reasons: wide range of actors and factors involved, substantial differences in the type and nature of both actors and factors, and numerous associated uncertainties. In this paper, a standardised methodology is described and illustrated on a few examples of relatively simple case studies. The proposed methodology provides means and tools for evaluation of several economic, environmental, and in the future also risk associated criteria and thereby enables selection of the most promising options for CCS. The methodology will also help to reduce the uncertainty by improving understanding of the most important dependencies and trends for the investigated key performance indicators as enlightened by the case studies examples. It could also help to design efficient incentives and measures to stimulate realization of CCS by identifying and evaluating the most important non-technical factors affecting the CCS chain viability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The BIGCO2 R&D (BIGCO2) Platform is an international collaborative research project aiming at developing several enabling technologies and innovative solutions supporting a large-scale deployment of CO2 capture from power generation and underground storage of CO2. All main routes for CO2 capture are investigated. The project is coordinated by SINTEF Energy Research and the budget of the current project period (2007-2011) is 16 M€. BIGCO2 builds knowledge and technology underpinning demonstration of power generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) at industrial scale. The project aims at closing critical knowledge gaps in the CO2 chain to enable sustainable power generation from fossil fuels based on carbon capture and underground storage of CO2. BIGCO2 is unique in terms size, diversity, and the fact that it comprises the whole CO2 chain. The project includes extensive international collaborative effort bringing together expertise and research infrastructure of competent research institutes and universities, supported by leading vendors, energy companies, and oil and gas companies. This paper presents the structure, the original objectives and the achievements of BIGCO2. Further, for each research task, the results are analyzed in light of the objectives. Each task leader has analyzed the results in the following context of: originally stated objectives, results, and if the results meet the objectives. The purpose of BIGCO2 is to develop new knowledge to enable power generation with CCS. Tangible objectives are: 90% CO2 capture rate, 50% cost reduction, and a fuel-to-electricity penalty less than 7% compared with state-of-the-art power generation. Partners of the Consortium are: Statoil, GE Global Research, Statkraft, Aker Clean Carbon, Shell, TOTAL, ConocoPhillips, ALSTOM, DLR, TUM, NTNU, CICERO, SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, SINTEF Petroleum Research, and SINTEF Energy Research. The University of Oslo is a subcontractor to the project. Further, BIGCO2 benefits from a strong collaboration between the combustion research facility at Sandia National Laboratories (USA) and SINTEF Energy Research. The main sponsor of BIGCO2 is the Research Council of Norway, with considerable co-funding from the industry partners and Gassnova. The research challenges and approach are extensively presented in . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy sources such as oil, natural gas, and coal currently account for around 80% of the world’s primary energy consumption. Despite significant investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, that Canada and others are making, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast that as the global economy continues to grow, fossil fuels will continue to dominate the world’s energy supply for decades. Reconciling the world’s ongoing reliance on fossil fuels with the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is then one of our greatest challenges. Canada is taking this challenge seriously with climate change policies that include enhancing our global leadership in advancing one of the most promising technologies for reducing GHG emissions from fossil fuel use: Carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is only one of several technologies that must be deployed and is not a ‘silver-bullet’ for meeting Canada’s target of reducing its GHG emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020. Yet, CCS is one of the only technologies currently available for making emissions reductions from large-scale fossil fuel usage–and, thus, will be a critical component of the technology puzzle for Canada to meet its emissions reduction objectives. Canada has a number of key sectors where the deployment of CCS is needed and there are opportunities to advance the technology. These include coal-fired electricity plants, the oil sands, and natural gas processing (e.g. from the new development of shale gas) -though the opportunity and demand for advancing CCS technology also exists in other sectors such as chemicals, fertilizer, steel making, and cement. Federal and provincial governments in Canada are making substantial investments in CCS, committing upwards of $3 billion in public funding towards seven large-scale fully-integrated CCS demonstration projects. The federal ecoENERGY Technology Initiative announced $151 million for the initial engineering and/or pilot stages of seven potential demonstration projects in 2008. The 2009 federal budget created Clean Energy Fund, which included $610 million for CCS demonstrations. The Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia have also committed funding for demonstrations, in particular $2 billion by Alberta. This public funding will leverage additional investment from industry, for projects that will each capture and store on the order of 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year, coming on-line starting in 2015 or sooner. This paper will provide an overview of Canada’s actions on advancing CCS deployment, with a focus on the CCS demonstration program and current R&D activities in Canada. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate change is one of the most important public policy issues of our time. Reconciling the world’s ongoing reliance on fossil fuels with the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of our greatest challenges. Canada is taking this challenge seriously with climate change policies that include enhancing our global leadership in advancing one of the most promising technologies for reducing GHG emissions from fossil fuel use: carbon capture and storage (CCS). Federal and provincial governments in Canada are making substantial investments in CCS, committing upwards of CAD 3 billion in public funding towards seven large-scale fully-integrated CCS demonstration projects. The federal ecoENERGY Technology Initiative announced $151 million for the initial engineering and/or pilot stages of seven potential demonstration projects in 2008. The 2009 federal budget created Clean Energy Fund, which included $610 million for CCS demonstrations. The Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia have also committed funding for demonstrations, in particular $2 billion by Alberta. This public funding will leverage additional investment from industry, for projects that will each capture and store on the order of 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year, coming on-line starting in 2015 or sooner. In order to generate early benefits from these investments, Government of Canada intends to create a knowledge sharing framework for CCS demonstration projects in Canada. The learnings from this first wave of demonstration projects should be disseminated in order to reduce challenges for the next generation of CCS projects and to build competitive advantage. This work will also support and provide input to the knowledge sharing and best practice guidelines being currently developed by Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI). Given that this level of information has not been shared in the past, establishing such a framework will pose several challenges such as concerns regarding the protection of the intellectual property (IP) and commercially sensitive information. Knowledge sharing will also support public engagement and capacity building programs, and it will provide an opportunity to assess the effectiveness and impact of the public investment. This paper will provide an overview and progress to date on the development of knowledge sharing and best practice guidelines in Canada. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: FutureGen, as originally planned, was to be the world’s first coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant with fully integrated, 90% carbon capture and storage (CCS). From conception through siting and design, it enjoyed strong support from multiple stakeholder groups, which benefited the overall project. Understanding the stakeholder engagement process for this project provides valuable insights into the design of stakeholder programs for future CCS projects. FutureGen is one of few projects worldwide that used open competition for siting both the power plant and storage reservoir. Most site proposals were coordinated by State governments. It was unique in this and other respects relative to the site selection method used on other DOE-supported projects. At the time of site selection, FutureGen was the largest proposed facility designed to combine an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal-fueled power plant with a CCS system. Stakeholder engagement by states and the industry consortium responsible for siting, designing, building, and operating the facility took place simultaneously and on parallel tracks. On one track were states spearheading state-wide site assessments to identify candidate sites that they wanted to propose for consideration. On the other track was a public-private partnership between an industry consortium of thirteen coal companies and electric utilities that comprised the FutureGen Alliance (Alliance) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The partnership was based on a cooperative agreement signed by both parties, which assigned the lead for siting to the Alliance. This paper describes the stakeholder engagement strategies used on both of these tracks and provides examples from the engagement process using the Illinois semi-finalist sites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an environmental assessment of three scenarios postulating a national deployment of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain by 2020–2050 on the French biggest industrial CO2 emitters (41 emitters among 9 industrial sectors) that had been carried out as part of the SOCECO2 project. 1 [1] SOCECO2 project, funded by the French National Research Agency, 2006–2009, involving the following partners: ALSTOM Power, APESA, BRGM, CNRS-CIRED, GDF Suez, IFP Energies nouvelles, INERIS, TOTAL. This analysis is based on the comparison of these CCS scenarios with reference scenarios without CCS at the same timeframe. Results detailed below focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption, although NOx and SOx emissions balances have also been evaluated in the same project. Conclusions of this study provide information about the extent and main contributing factors of potential environmental outcomes (negative or positive) associated to CCS deployment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent surveys, polls, and other research focused on stakeholder attitudes towards the nascent commercial deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies revealed that the general public knows relatively little about CCS. Given this lack of knowledge with respect to the concept of CCS—let alone first-hand experiential knowledge derived from seeing these technologies deployed in local communities—it is imperative to re-examine how research on CCS stakeholder involvement is conducted and how the results of these studies are reported. This paper will explore several such framing issues regarding future stakeholder involvement activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China has built at least 70 GW of new coal- fired power installed capacity annually since 2005 and the growth is expected to continue (CEC, 2008). Chinese government, industry and academic stakeholders perceive that China will not mandate new plants to be built with carbon dioxide capture and storage systems in the short term and there is little incentive even to contemplate the first steps needed to fit plants with capture equipment [Reiner, D., Liang, X., Sun, X., Zhu, Y., Li, D., 2007. Stakeholder attitudes towards carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies in China, International Climate Change Conference, Hong Kong, May 29–31 2007]. We investigate the value of making new plants CO2 Capture Ready (CCR), which would enable them to retrofit to capture CO2 without unnecessary additional costs when the appropriate policy and /or economic drivers are in place (IEA, 2007). In order to understand the value and investment characteristics of CCR in China, a typical 600 MW pulverized-coal -fired ultra-supercritical power plant, locating at Guangdong province, was examined. Combined with a detailed engineering assessment, we obtained the costs for different CCR scenarios. To analyze CCR investment opportunities, we apply a cash flow model for valuing Capture Options, as developed in [Liang, X., Reiner, D., Gibbins J., Li J., 2007. Fianncing CCR coal-fired power plants in China by issuing capture options, EPRG Working Paper Series, EPRG0728, Cambridge, December. Available at: www.electricitypolicy.org.uk/pubs/wp/eprg0728.pdf]. Results are obtained by Monte-Carlo simulation, based on engineering surveys and the IEA (2007) CCR study, as well as plant performance information and expert projections on carbon prices, coal prices and electricity prices. CCR investments are justified by factors such as higher retrofitting probabilities, lower early-closure probabilities and fair economic return. However, the economic case for CCR largely depends on the type of investments made, for example, CCR-essential investments tend to be more economic than additional non-essential CCR features such as CCR Essential with clutched low-pressure turbines. Carbon price, coal price and discount rate also were found to have significant impacts on the economics of CCR. Overall, it appears that the value of capture options are significant, and therefore clear retrofitting strategies would be valuable for any CCR investment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Coal is China’s primary fuel for power generation and will almost certainly remain so for the foreseeable future. China had an installed power generation capacity of a little over 700GWe in 2007, which is projected to nearly double within the next 20 years. NZEC (Near Zero Emission Coal) is a major Sino-British initiative on carbon capture and storage. One of its key aims is to complete the work required to construct a coal-fired power generation plant in China with CCS. The first phase of NZEC is a feasibility study, due to complete in late 2009, in which options for CCS in China are being explored. As part of the feasibility study, an energy systems analysis using the China MARKAL model is being undertaken to provide a perspective on the energy technologies that may be deployed in China to meet its energy needs. The energy situation in China is being analysed, with a detailed investigation undertaken of the various technologies and fuels employed at present. Based on growth forecasts and national plans for China, predictions will be made of the technologies and fuels that may be deployed to meet its future needs. The role of coal and the various technology options for utilising that coal will be identified. An estimate of the CO2 emissions arising from the utilisation of coal and the potential impact of their release to the atmosphere will be made. The potential for CCS to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and the cost and impact of deploying CCS will be examined. In this paper, the authors will provide a progress review of this analysis and present provisional results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper deals with recent assessments and results of the EU-based DYNAMIS 1 [1] EU/EC Contract #019672 under the 6th Framework Programme, “Towards Hydrogen and Electricity Production with Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage”, in brief: DYNAMIS. Start-up date: 01 March 2006. Coordinator: SINTEF Energy Research, Trondheim, Norway. project, which - since March 2006 - has been investigating decarbonisation of fossil fuels (bituminous coal, lignite and natural gas), with the inclusion of carbon capture and geological storage of the CO2 (CCS). The project was established by leading European RTD providers and industries, and sponsored by the European Commission under its 6th Framework Programme. Main deliverables of the DYNAMIS project comprise pre-engineering studies and a subset of recommendations to the European Commission with regards to its HYPOGEN Demonstrator Programme. According to prerequisites established by the European Commission, the HYPOGEN Demonstrator is planned to offer electricity, hydrogen and CO2 at large scale - scheduled for commercial operations to commence by 2012–2015. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The creation of a robust Baseline, Monitoring, and Verification (BMV) plan is key to assuring containment integrity in CO2 geological storage projects. A BMV plan has three main aims: Monitor CO2 movement in the subsurface, Calibrate dynamic earth models and finally, Verify volume of stored CO2. Wide ranges of potential BMV technologies available are currently tested in CCS pilots and industrial scale projects. This paper describes how to optimize the BMV plan design by adopting a risk-based approach and how the value of information (VOI) of specific monitoring technologies needs to be assessed to meet program objectives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]