Norway Examines Feasibility of CO2 Shipping

Norwegian state operator Gassco has commissioned Knutsen OAS Shipping and Larvik Shipping to study transport of CO2 by ship in connection with the Norwegian government’s full-scale project for managing this greenhouse gas.

“The transport study will help to ensure that the government’s ambition of realizing at least one full-scale CO2 facility by 2020 can be met,” says Gassco CEO Frode Leversund.

As early as 2005, the Norwegian government voiced ambitious goals for implementing carbon capture at gas-fired power stations and establishing a value chain to transport and inject carbon dioxide for improved oil recovery or deposition.

The two companies will start work immediately on analyzing various ship-based solutions, and these are due to be submitted to Gassco by mid-April. The companies believe vessels like the shuttle tanker Gijon Knutsen might be suitable for CO2 transport.

In cooperation with Gassnova, Gassco has earlier studied CO2 handling chains.

The CO2 chain is being addressed by industrial players. Gassnova has assigned studies of the relevant capture locations to Norcem in Brevik, Yara at Herøya and Klemetsrud EGE in Oslo, while Gassco and Statoil are responsible for the transport and storage aspects respectively.

In January, the Norwegian government asked Statoil to conduct new studies on carbon storage on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The Norwegian oil major, which is involved in four large-scale CCS projects, was the only tender for the contract, worth 35 million Norwegian crowns ($3.96 million).

The feasibility studies will be carried out at three locations in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea and the work will be completed by June 1, Statoil said in a statement.

"The results from the storage studies, together with feasibility studies within CO2 capture and CO2 transport, will form the basis for a decision by the Norwegian government on further progress for full-scale CCS in Norway," Statoil said.

Norway has previously said it has an ambition to realize at least one full-scale CCS demonstration project by 2020.

The International Energy Agency has said that by 2040, four billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions must be captured to keep global warming at bay, which is 100 times more than the total CCS projects expected to be online in the next 18 months.

CCS technology is still small scale and very costly. There are 15 projects in operation worldwide and seven due to become operational in 2016 and 2017 according to the Global CSS Institute.

In the Sleipner area of the North Sea, Statoil has successfully captured and stored up to one million tons of carbon dioxide annually since 1996.The Sleipner asset was the world's first project to start large-scale offshore carbon dioxide separation and injection into a geological formation. The storage site is located 1,000 meters below the seafloor.