In focus: Getting to net-zero emissions and low-carbon economy

The recently held 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) brought to light many questions surrounding the transition to a more sustainable future, but more importantly the event showed that countries worldwide are committed to accelerate their decarbonisation plans, strengthening the emissions-reduction targets for 2030.

Even more, decarbonisation has become a global imperative and a priority for governments, companies and society at large. Many of the world’s leaders in energy and transport sector have publicly declared their intention to become carbon neutral by 2050.

This week, we witnessed that progress is being made at global, national and local levels, with recent announcements suggesting that we could be on track to meet these targets.

One of the first announcements came from BP who selected two consortia of engineering, ‎carbon capture licensors, power providers, and EPC contractors to participate in a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) ‎competition to advance the development of one of the first decarbonised industrial ‎clusters in the UK and the world.

BP awarded the contracts as part of the dual FEED competition for the Net Zero Teesside Power project and the Northern Endurance ‎Partnership’s carbon compression infrastructure in Teesside.

Investing in carbon capture, usage ‎and storage (CCUS) is a key point of the UK government’s 10-point plan for a green industrial ‎revolution and this award represents the next step towards the proposed development of the UK’s ‎first full-scale integrated power and carbon capture project.

On the other hand, Norway’s government announced on Thursday, December 16, that they have received applications from five companies related to two areas on the Norwegian continental shelf to be allocated for the injection and storage of CO2.

After being approached by several different players expressing a desire to be allocated areas for CO2 storage and, as part of its push to facilitate more Norwegian projects for CO2 management, the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced the two areas for applications related to injection and storage of CO2 on the NCS on 10 September 2021.

Similar to this, the Swedish Energy Agency (SWEA) announced last week that they have approved the partial funding of the collaborative project CinfraCap, bringing the region a step closer to a carbon capture infrastructure at the Port of Gothenburg.

According to Anna-Karin Jannasch at Nordion Energi AB, who is sub-project manager, the infrastructure at the Port of Gothenburg could be of crucial significance to the transport of captured carbon dioxide from the entire country to a sub-seabed repository.

Also worth mentioning is the announcement of Finland-based green tech company Langh Tech who has started researching the possibility of carbon capture onboard vessels. The first tests have been successfully performed onboard one of the vessels operated by Langh Ship, Lang Tech’s sister company, utilizing the existing Langh Tech hybrid scrubber.

As informed, Langh Tech has conducted several preliminary tests of capturing CO2 emitted by a vessel’s main engine by the means of using an existing Langh Tech closed loop SOx scrubber system.

Last week, the offshore wind sector also presented some interesting developments with the first one coming from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) who has announced that the GROW consortium FlexH2 project was awarded a grant as part of the MOOI-SIGOHE tender scheme.

The Shell-led research project FlexH2, which stands for Flexible Offshore Wind Hydrogen Power Plant Module, intends to develop and demonstrate technology that will accelerate the scale-up of offshore wind to green hydrogen production and its integration in the energy system.

Through this grant, the Dutch government is contributing €4 million, and the partners are investing about €5 million in the project. The research project is to start on 1 April 2022 and will last four years.

Next, Siemens Gamesa announced that they have commissioned the new hydrogen-ready Service Operation Vessel (SOV) – the REM Energy. The latest member of Siemens Gamesa’s fleet of ships is ready for the addition of a 12-MW battery which would reduce energy consumption during operation.

The REM Energy is also capable to run emissions-free on green hydrogen or with batteries and offshore charging. However, until a green hydrogen economy is established in Germany, the ship will be conventionally powered by diesel generators.

Also, important thing to mention is the story of Vopak Moda Houston, jointly owned and operated by Royal Vopak and Moda Midstream, who said that its marine ammonia terminal in the Port of Houston is now fully operational.

Strategically located in close proximity to ammonia and hydrogen pipelines, it is the first greenfield terminal development in the Port of Houston in more than a decade.

It can handle very large gas carriers (VLGCs), as well as smaller vessels and barges. It is also the only waterborne ammonia terminal in the Port of Houston with deepwater capabilities.

Wrapping up the week with two announcements from the tidal energy sector. First one comes from the Scottish-based company Nova Innovation who has secured €2.5 million to build an upscaled tidal energy turbine, expected to further slash the cost of tidal power.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Fund will finance Nova’s UpTEMPO (Upscaling Tidal Energy Manufacturing and Production Output) project – a two-year campaign to design, build, and demonstrate an enhanced version of Nova’s 100kW tidal turbine.

The advanced 200kW device will feature blade pitch control, increasing the amount of power and energy generated, and a more compact turbine body that will reduce the weight and cost of the device.

Together, these innovations will cut the cost of tidal energy by 30%, smashing the EU Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan tidal energy cost target of €150/MWh by 2025, Nova claims.

Another Scottish tidal energy company, Orbital Marine Power has unveiled plans to qualify multiple applications for submission into the UK Government’s newly opened renewable energy auction round.

Following a series of good news stories for tidal energy commercialisation in 2021, Orbital Marine now has a credible course to delivering multi-device projects in locations across the UK as early as 2025, according to the company.

The Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC) will be one of the company’s application sites now that onshore consents for the project have been approved by the Isle of Wight Council Planning Committee.

To remind, Orbital Marine was the first company to sign up for deployment at the site which is located to the south of the Isle of Wight, and with offshore consents, onshore consents and grid connection agreement now completed, the project is now primed to secure part of the ringfenced funding set aside in the scheme to support the UK’s world-leading tidal technology.