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The volume of CO2 being injected into the North Sea by 2050 will be equivalent to the natural gas currently being extracted from the basin, requiring a vast infrastructure investment, a new report has found.
According to energy consultancy Xodus, around 100 reservoirs and more than 7,500 kilometres of new pipelines will be needed to capture the carbon from dozens of onshore emissions capturing and gathering sites.
The report assessed 560 potential storage sites, existing North Sea gas pipelines and potential new infrastructure to rank the cost efficiency of different carbon capture initiatives.
It found that about 40 per cent of European industrial emissions are generated within 500km of the North Sea, which could be a major advantage in reducing the cost of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects.
According to a forecast from Xodus, up to 100 per cent of European CCUS projects will be anchored in the North Sea in the next decade, although over time this share will reduce.
Emissions will be imported by vessels and long-distance pipelines; however, this will depend on various factors including transportation costs, competing storage sites and societal attitudes towards onshore storage.
Xodus CEO Steve Swindell said: “If we’re to get to net zero in an orderly and timely manner, pioneering technologies like CCUS are a necessity, not an option. Fortunately, the North Sea’s world-class oil and gas industry provides the perfect foundation for the roll-out of carbon capture, with the potential to repurpose and build around existing infrastructure.
“But the outlook for this crucial technology is somewhat vague, with many question marks around timing, volume and prime locations for locking away emissions. Our study analyses many of these uncertainties by examining the infrastructure needed to enable deployment at scale.
“We have developed this tool to generate scenario-based forecasts of how Europe’s CCUS sector will mature up to 2050 – a major asset in helping developers to make educated and accurate investment decisions.”
Another study recently warned that a lack of support from the UK government is forcing up to a third of UK-based CCUS projects to think about relocating overseas.
By the end of the decade, Xodus expects there to be eight operational CCUS projects in Europe, including Northern Lights in Norway, and the Viking and Acorn clusters in the UK. All carbon stores will be situated near or linked to high-emitting regions, offering a decarbonisation solution for vast swathes of heavy industry.
Developments will likely be supported by direct government subsidies, alongside contracts tied to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS).
