Description
CCUS projects across Europe are nearing final investment decisions (FID), with UK announcements for the Track-1 Clusters. In the EU, the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) and Industrial Carbon Management (ICM) strategy confirm the essential and transformational role that carbon capture, utilisation, and storage will play in meeting net zero targets, with increasingly ambitious targets and groundbreaking obligations on the oil and gas industry to make it happen.A vast reserve of storage capacity lies below the North Sea under the jurisdiction of the UK, Norway, Denmark, and The Netherlands. This offers an opportunity for these countries to import CO2 from neighbours who have ambitious commitments to decarbonise but lack local access to mature storage assets. For a regional marketplace of imports and exports to become a reality, pieces of the puzzle need to be in place. Some barriers, while not insurmountable, remain.
Right now, the rate of subsurface storage development in the North Sea validated to commercial quality is too slow to meet decarbonisation targets across Europe. In the UK, storage capacity approaching FID is already oversubscribed by the volumes of industrial CO2 targeted for capture. The free, cross-border flow of captured CO2 necessary for a pan-European network, is also hampered by legal and regulatory hurdles such as the UK’s exit from the EU, the EU and UK ETS, and the London Protocol. Meanwhile, Norway has a shipping solution in place and plans to develop a CO2 pipeline highway to transport EU emissions 1000 kms north, while Denmark and the Netherlands are strategically positioned to capture the market at a lower cost if storage is developed in time.
Featuring a range of expert speakers from academia, industry, government and policy making, this year’s conference discussed what is needed for a multi-user, cross-border, flexible EU-wide CO2 transport and storage network to become reality.
| Period | 3 Dec 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Edinburgh, United KingdomShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | National |