Estimates of CO2 storage capacityin Europe

Karen Lyng Anthonsen, Thomas Vangkilde-Pedersen & Lars Henrik Nielsen

Geological survey of Denmark and Greenland

Framework of presentation

• Overview of European CO2 storage capacity projects

• CO2 storage capacity estimates for Denmark

• How to estimate CO2 storage capacity – illustrated for aquifers

• Results of latest total European CO2 storage capacity estimates

• Conclusions

CO2 storage capacity projects

• Joule II finalised 1993The joule II project: The underground disposal of carbon dioxideAll Europe

• GESTCO finalised 2003Geological Storage of CO2 from Combustion of Fossil FuelBelgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, UK

• Castor (WP 1.2) finalised 2006Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia

• GeoCapacity finalised 2008Assessing European Capacity for Geological Storage of Carbon DioxideBulgaria, Croatia, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, UK

CO2 storage capacity projects

CO2 storage options

• Oil- and gas reservoirsLimited storage capacity, but well-known geology and proven capability to retain hydrocarbonsPossibility to use CO2 for enhanced oil/gas recovery (EOR/EGR)

• Aquifers (saline)Large storage volumes, but relatively unknown geology and therefore uncertainties about reservoir integrity and properties

• Coal fieldsVery limited storage capacity and injection rates, but possible to use CO2 for production of methane

Aquifers in Denmark

Cross-section

Modified from Vejbæk 1990, 1997

Criteria for selection of CO2 storage structures

• Sealed (cap rock)

• Non faulted, both structure and seal

• Top of reservoir situated below 800 m to ensure storage of super critical CO2

• Reservoir situated less than 2500 m, to ensure enough preserved porosity and permeability

• Significant size, storage capacity approximately min. 100 Mt

• Be within reasonable distance from a CO2 source

Deep saline aquifers

MCO2e = A × h × φ × ρCO2r × Seff

• MCO2e : effective storage capacity

• A : area of trap or regional aquifer

• h : average height of aquifer × average net to gross ratio

• φ : average reservoir porosity

• ρCO2r : CO2 density at reservoir conditions

• Seff : sweep efficiency (estimated)

Typical Seff ranges for structures: 5 – 40 %

Suggested Seff for regional aquifers: 2 %

Level of potential storage estimations

Bottom:Theoretical capacity including large uneconomic/unrealisticvolumes: estimateswithout efficiency factor

Middle:Effective capacity with technical/geological cut off limits applied to theoretical capacity:detailed estimates with evaluated efficiency factor

Top:Practical capacity with economic and regulatory barriers applied to effective capacity and with matching of sources and sinks: Site specific efficiency factor from reservoir simulations

Geological structures

GeoCapacity estimate of storage capacity in DK

Sedimentary basins of Europe

CO2 emission sources

Hydrocarbon fields

Coal fields

Aquifers

no data

CO2 emission sources and storage sites

CO2 Storage capacity – results of GeoCapacity project

Effective capacityConservative

estimate Effective capacityConservative

estimate Effective capacityConservative

estimate

2 350 100 30 25 1,5 1,0

Storage capacity (Gt CO2)Emissions from big stationary

sources (Gt CO2)

Aquifers Hydrocarbon fields Coal measures

Conclusions

• CCS has a large potential in Europe, but site specific investigations are needed

• GeoCapacity project include country specific CO2

storage information from 25 countries

• The GeoCapacity project provides the latest estimate of total European storage capacity: 126 Gt as a conservative estimate

EU GeoCapacityAssessing European Capacity for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide

www.geocapacity.eu