Saipem in decarbonisation push with new collaboration deal

Italian oilfield services provider Saipem has signed a collaboration agreement with Elkem to evaluate new opportunities in the entire CO2 capture and storage chain.

Elkem is a Norwegian company dealing with the sustainable production of cutting-edge metals and materials to assess and identify possible development plans and design solutions, based on the proprietary technology of the recently acquired Canadian CO2 Solutions.

In particular, Saipem will collaborate with Elkem for a CO2 capture plant that is also equipped with liquefaction processes and facilities for cargo ship transport of the CO2 collected by the Northern Lights project, in Norway, the Italian company said on Tuesday.

Through both its engineering and design skills and experience, Saipem will contribute to the achievement of the carbon-neutrality objectives of Elkem, which is pursuing sustainable environmental objectives.

Furthermore, Saipem has already been involved in the Northern Lights project, for which it has recently completed a feasibility study on the subsea transport of CO2. 

Maurizio Coratella, Chief Operating Officer of Saipem’s onshore E&C Division said: “Decarbonisation represents one of the major avenues for the energy transition, together with hydrogen and renewable energies and, of course, gas which will be the commodity that will accompany us for the next few years.

“This is why we are increasingly setting our sights on collaborations in the sector, such as this one with Elkem which will allow us to present our bio-catalysed technology for the benefit of the production of zero impact metals.

“Saipem’s CO2 Solutions is in fact an enzymatic carbon capture technology that brings unique environmental and operational advantages. The technology provides a disruptive alternative to conventional CO2 capture solutions and is part of our broad portfolio of green products. Saipem has the skills and capabilities to master the entire CO2 capture and storage (CCS) chain thanks to our solid background in capture technology, pipeline fluid transport over long distances, and onshore and offshore CO2 injection drilling, qualities that will be of fundamental importance in the near future”.

Just last week Saipem revealed it had developed a new tool – named SOCE (Saipem Offshore Carbon Estimation) – for the estimation of the carbon footprint of its offshore projects.

Saipem developed the new CO2 estimation tool with the aim of quantifying the carbon footprint of an entire EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation) project following the Life Cycle Assessment methodology.