In focus: CO2 capture and storage – important element in the green transition

As the world faces new challenges in 2023, offshore energy industries are making new plans to deliver on the net-zero target. In addition to marine energy, the fast-growing offshore wind sector is also finding its place among oil and gas players.

Example number one: SSE Renewables and Equinor, the developers of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK, are exploring two options for Dogger Bank D, the fourth wind farm the partners are looking to build as part of the development.

These include using Dogger Bank D for electricity that would feed into the UK grid and/or for green hydrogen production.

“Both the grid offtake and green hydrogen production options from Dogger Bank D would contribute to the UK’s net zero ambitions and emphasise Equinor’s ability to deliver a broad energy offering to the UK”, said Halfdan Brustad, VP Dogger Bank at Equinor.

The Dogger Bank D offshore wind farm is planned for the eastern zone of the Dogger Bank C lease area. Building the 1.32 GW project there would more than double the utilisation of existing acreage, Equinor and SSE said.

Number two: Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn have submitted a Marine Licence application for the Green Volt floating offshore wind farm.

This consent application could allow the project to start generating power in the mid-2020s, making it the most advanced oil and gas decarbonisation project in the UK, the developers said.

Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn are applying for a lease for Green Volt under the Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) round.

Located 80 kilometres east, offshore from Peterhead, Scotland, the Green Volt project will use up to 35 floating wind turbines to deliver 500 MW of renewable energy.

The Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Supply has granted the country’s first-ever permits for full-scale CO2 storage in the North Sea.

The permits cover areas in old spent oil and gas fields as well as previously unexplored saline porous sand layers located at a depth of one or two kilometers below the seabed. They are said to contain all the necessary geological structures that are suitable for future permanent CO2 storage locations. 

“It is an important step into the future as the first exclusive permits for full-scale CO2 storage in the North Sea have now been granted. CO2 capture and storage is an important element in the green transition. The permits today are the result of effective implementation of the first Danish political agreements on CCS,” said Kristoffer Böttzauw, Director of the Danish Energy Agency.

The allocation of the licenses takes place after the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities submits a report to the Norwegian Parliament’s Climate, Energy and Utilities Committee on which permits he intends to issue.

Also, the UK National Grid’s subsea electricity interconnectors achieved a record in January with more power being imported in and exported out of the UK than ever.

The five interconnectors, which connect Great Britain with France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, transported almost 12 per cent more power than in the same period last year, at an average of 91 GWh per day.

National Grid reported that a total of 2.6 TWh of power was transported through its cables in January alone, which is almost 12 per cent more than the same time last year and 39 per cent higher than two years ago.

The North Sea Chapter of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) is calling on the Scottish and UK Governments and the oil and gas industry to cooperate to better effect and ensure the sector takes a balanced, long-term approach to the energy transition.

The move comes in response to North Sea Transition Authority’s (NSTA) report that a wave of new opportunities for the UK offshore supply chain will be created by projects, following a study conducted with the Global Underwater Hub (GUH).

With oil and gas supporting 75 per cent of the UK’s energy requirements, IADC believes a longer-term outlook is needed in order to secure jobs across the industry, stabilize the UK economy and ensure a safe transition to cleaner energy.

“The recently announced projects represent a fraction of what is truly needed to meet growing UK energy demands, as well as strengthen regional energy security, but frustratingly only amounts to minimal opportunities for drilling contractors,” said Darren Sutherland, Chair of the IADC North Sea Chapter.

After ClientEarth, an environmental law charity, announced plans to take the board of directors of the UK’s oil and gas giant Shell to court over what it describes as “failing to move away from fossil fuels fast enough,” the oil major has denied the allegations made against its board, vowing to oppose the derivative claim application.

ClientEarth disclosed its intention of going to court against Shell’s board of directors on Thursday, 9 February 2023, stating that the UK giant’s board is in breach of its legal duties under the UK Companies Act to manage risks to the company that could harm its future success, as it is“failing to move away from fossil fuels fast enough.” 

The organisation claims that this is the first-ever case of its kind, seeking to hold corporate directors personally liable, and the first time a company’s board has been challenged on its “failure to properly prepare for the energy transition.”

Danish marine fuel supplier Monjasa and HØST PtX Esbjerg have signed a Commercial Collaboration Agreement (CCA) on logistics services and offtake of green ammonia for the maritime sector.

Under the terms of the deal, Monjasa will provide logistics services that will enable the distribution of green ammonia from HØST PtX Esbjerg, which is a Danish power-to-ammonia project managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

The HØST PtX Esbjerg production facility is located in Southern Denmark close to the port of Esbjerg, from where the ammonia is planned to be distributed.

Also, Dutch tank storage company Vopak has decided to acquire the shares of Gunvor Petroleum Antwerp from commodity trader Gunvor Group, and gain access to the Gunvor concession in the Antwerp port area, with an aim to sustainably redevelop the site to support renewable energy.

The site’s size is some 105 hectares and it offers deep-sea, river, road and rail access as well as pipeline connections to Northwest Europe.

The adjacent and future pipelines are said to be suitable for transporting i.a. propylene, ethylene, CO2 and hydrogen.

Together with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Vopak plans to take advantage of these site characteristics and focus on joint development/implementation to support renewable energy.

The partners’ common aim is to jointly develop a new green energy hub as Vopak intends to reconfigure the concessions to make a positive contribution to the decarbonisation of the industrial cluster on the Antwerp port platform.