Economic Potential of DACCS and Global CCS Progress

5.7 INFRASTRUCTURE As CCS networks have emerged as a key CCS deployment model, the development of shared transport and storage infrastructure has become a focus for project developers and policymakers. Shared infrastructure includes all the capital equipment required to move CO2 from capture plants to its ultimate permanent storage site: pipelines; compression systems; ships; port facilities, such as CO2 liquefaction plants and temporary holding tanks; and ultimately storage installations where multiple CO2 sources can be injected into storage in shared wells. Infrastructure projects enable better economics for the transport and storage of CO2. By taking advantage of economies of scale, shared pipelines enable long-distance transport at a much lower cost per tonne of CO2 than would be possible with dedicated, smaller capacity pipelines. Infrastructure also enables more rapid deployment of CCS at scale, by aggregating the parts of the life cycle (pipelines and storage) with longer timelines. Infrastructure projects are under development by existing players in the oil and gas sector who have long histories of building pipeline projects and drilling wells. These projects fit well with the experience and core competencies of these companies. In the US, ExxonMobil is leading the Houston Ship Channel CCS infrastructure project. Incorporating 14 companies operating emissions-intensive businesses in the Houston region, this world-scale network project will involve the development of shared CO2 pipelines in the Houston Ship Channel region. Companies such as Air Liquide, BASF and Shell have agreed to participate in the project (1). The use of shared infrastructure (pipelines and offshore storage wells in the Gulf of Mexico) will greatly improve the economics of CO2 transport and storage in the region. In the UK, the East Coast Cluster is working to aggregate CO2 captured from a multitude of industrial and energy facilities. In addition to these onshore pipeline networks, supporting infrastructure in the form of offshore pipelines and offshore storage facilities is being developed under the Northern Endurance Partnership (2). This large-scale offshore storage project will become essential infrastructure for the entire Humber and Teesside industrial region, enabling up to 27 Mtpa of captured CO2 to be stored far more cost effectively than multiple, smaller storage projects. In Europe, Equinor and Fluxys have announced plans for a world-scale CO2 subsea pipeline from Belgium to storage sites in the Norwegian North Sea (3). This 1,000 km long pipeline, with an anticipated capacity of 20-40 Mtpa, is intended to support the transport of captured CO2 from Belgium and surrounding countries as an open-access transport system. This would form an essential backbone of CO2 pipeline infrastructure across Northwestern Europe. In the Dutch North Sea, the Aramis project will provide open-access CO2 transport and storage services through an offshore pipeline to depleted gas fields. As well as pipelines, shipping is emerging as an essential transport vector for CO2- often when CO2 sources and storage sites are too far apart for pipelines. Ship-based CO2 transport relies on the refrigeration of CO2 to liquefy it, making it denser and enabling ships to transport larger tonnages for a given volume. Early ship designs, such as those used in the Langskip network in Norway, are dedicated carriers shuttling CO2 from particular individual CO2 capture facilities in Oslo and Brevik. As such, their 7,500 m3 CO₂ volume is determined by logistics, with shipping distance and annual CO2 volume the key considerations (4). These early ships were adapted from existing LPG carrier designs. It is anticipated that future CO2 ships will likely be developed with larger capacities to facilitate longer open water shipping routes, using clean sheet designs. In Iceland, CO2 storage company Carbfix is developing the Coda project (5). Leveraging the low-cost basalt storage available in Iceland, this CO2 terminal will enable CO2 to be shipped from across Northwestern and Western Europe. CO2 port infrastructure like Coda is expected to become a common feature of coastal CCS networks more generally. Ship-based CO2 movements increase the scale of CCS networks and will require CO2 loading facilities (at source ports) and unloading facilities (at receiving ports). A key advantage of port facilities is that CO2 transport routes can change over time (unlike pipelines), allowing ships to take CO2 to the lowest-cost storage facilities in a region. As well as industrial players, governments play a key role in the incentivisation and development of CCS infrastructure. For example, the Carbon Net pipeline and storage project in Victoria, Australia has been an ongoing effort to develop a new storage sector for energy and industrial businesses in the state. Similarly, the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL) project in Alberta, Canada has benefited from public support to kickstart the CCS sector in the region, building a world-scale pipeline connecting CO2 sources to storage resources 240 km away. [45] GLOBAL CCS INSTITUTE

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