The feasibility of CO2 storage in the depleted P18-4 gas field offshore the Netherlands (the ROAD project).

Abstract: Near the coast of Rotterdam CO₂ storage in the depleted P18-4 gas field is planned to start in 2015 as one of the six selected European demonstration projects under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR). This project is referred to as the ROAD project. ROAD (a Dutch acronym for Rotterdam Capture and Storage Demonstration project) is a joint project by E.ON Benelux and Electrabel Nederland/GDF SUEZ Group and is financially supported by the European Commission and the Dutch state. A post-combustion carbon capture unit will be retrofitted to EONs’ Maasvlakte Power Plant 3 (MPP3), a new 1100MWe coal-fired power plant in the port of Rotterdam. The capture unit has a capacity of 250MWe equivalent and aims to capture 1.1million tonnes of CO₂ per year. A 20km long insulated pipeline will be constructed to the existing offshore platform operated by TAQA and an existing well will be worked over and re-used for injection. Natural gas production in the P18-4 field is projected to end just before the start of the CO₂ injection. In this first phase a total storage of around 5Mt CO₂ is envisaged with an injection timeframe of 5 years. This paper gives a description of the field and of the studies carried out to investigate the suitability of the field for CO₂ storage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]