Two more areas in Greece, beyond Prinos, which do not involve oil reservoirs but saline aquifers of great depth, seem to have been identified by HEREMA (Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management company), which is also looking for other geological formations for CCS projects.
At a time when the demand from industries in Europe for CO2 storage is constantly increasing and everyone is "scanning" for possible hydrocarbon reservoirs and not, onshore or undersea, HEREMA has reportedly focused on two more areas in Macedonia.
In the Axios Basin, both onshore and offshore, which constitutes a fairly large geographical area in Central Macedonia and secondly, in the so-called Middle Hellenic Trench of the prefecture of Grevena, in Western Macedonia.
Both have been selected from a larger list, after a first survey by HEREMA in 2020 (among which the Volos Basalts, geological formations in Western Thessaloniki, etc.), and seem to gather some first positive characteristics for CCS projects, i.e. a large capacity and a proven safe and secure storage environment.
In the area of the Central Hellenic Corridor, for example, an intensive evaluation of its potential for CO2 storage has been carried out for a long time, in the framework of the European program PilotSTRATEGY CCUS , where, from the Greek side, apart from HEREMA, the National Center for Research and Technological Development (EKETA) also participates ).
As international interest increases from industries, i.e. emitters looking for such areas to transport volumes of CO2 and while our wider neighborhood does not have such infrastructure, HEREMA and EKETA are already carrying out dynamic simulation studies in North Macedonia.
And having new data in their hands, but also reprocessing older ones, they are trying to determine whether the above areas are suitable for CCS projects , both in terms of maximum capacity and safety.
In Greece, which, like Northern Europe, does not have many empty hydrocarbon reservoirs except Prino, the region with the most candidate carbon dioxide storage areas is Macedonia. And earlier, in the context of another European program, the "Strategy CCUS", the areas of Pentalofos, Eptachori and Tsotili of Western Macedonia had emerged as possible places for CO2 storage. They were shown to possess large geological formations, with suitable carbon adsorption sites.
In this area, the mobility is very high pan-European, from industries, research institutes, universities, governments, everyone. As developments press on and European industry must "green" quickly, everyone in Europe is looking for opportunities and suitable geological formations.
It is enough to take a look at the European PilotSTRATEGY program, where HEREMA participates. The participants include companies specialized in drilling such as the French Arvern and the Geological Institute of France BRGM, the well-known Spanish oil group Repsol, the largest Portuguese oil and gas group Galp, the German organization Fraunhofer ISI which is the largest European applied research institute with about 80 smaller ones across the country, the University of Edinburgh from UK, etc.
Similarities and differences with Norway
All of them, pressed by the imperatives of the green transition, are not only looking for suitable geological formations for depositing volumes of CO2, but also working on new technologies and know-how.
Here, HEREMA is betting a lot on the Greek-Norwegian cooperation it has been developing in recent years, with visits to key facilities, such as the one made in February by its scientific team at the "Northern Lights" terminal in Bergen. It is an infrastructure that will store quantities of carbon dioxide in an underground deep saline aquifer in the North Sea. In other words, underwater, like Prinos in Kavala, about 2,000-4,000 meters deep.
Comparing the Greek with the Norwegian case, one finds similarities - such as that both countries have e.g. strong shipping, a sector with a key role in moving quantities of CO₂ from local industries to terminals for storage - but also too many differences.
Precisely because Norway has a tradition of hydrocarbon mining and production, it has many areas of depleted deposits, for which abundant data is available. It has already developed relevant technologies, is gaining more and more experience, deepens the subject and "sells" specialized know-how throughout Europe and beyond.
Prinos and what is pending for the market to move forward
On the contrary, similar data in Greece are available for a single area, that of Prinos in Kavala. The only relevant project that has reached a degree of maturity, with an estimated initial investment of 400 million euros, which in the long run could reach up to 900 million euros.
And as part of the permit, Energean has 22 months (starting from 1 October 2023) to carry out and complete the investigation of CO₂ storage potential in the designated area.
Recently, there has been movement around the project, with Energean having started the process of converting the research license into a storage license for CO₂, having commissioned the preparation of an Environmental and Social Impact Study (ESI) for the 1st phase, while at the same time " are running' and facility design studies. Such is the update of the pre-FEED study prepared by Wood in order to prepare the final study.
According to the schedule she presented at the recent Power & Gas Forum, Dr. Katerina Sardis, CEO and Country Manager of Energean in Greece, within 2024 the binding market test will begin, so that by the first quarter of 2025 binding contracts have been signed with the industries (emitters) that want to transfer volumes of CO2 to Prinos. This means that then the final investment decisions will be made from both sides.
To date, Energean has signed 9 MoUs with interested emitters from Greece and neighboring countries. In terms of timelines for drilling at Prinos, the company is planning it around the end of 2025, with the aim of then obtaining the operating permit and having the CO2 storage unit operational by the first quarter of 2026.
These are from Energean's side, as in order for the CCS market to move forward in Greece, other outstanding issues must be closed. For the country to obtain a Regulation for the storage of CO2, for which we have committed to the Commission that it will be ready by the summer. To create a competent Directorate of projects at the Ministry of the Interior for the capture and storage of CO2 (CCS) on the model of the Directorates, e.g. for electricity or for RES & alternative fuels.
And equally important, to enter into bilateral partnerships for the transfer of CO2 volumes from one country to another. That is, agreements for the transnational transfer of quantities of carbon dioxide, e.g. from Bulgaria, Italy or Croatia to Prino, just as many others do in Europe, with the recent Denmark-France agreement as a prime example and beyond.
It should be noted that the countries of the North, such as Denmark, but also others, such as Germany and the Netherlands, have state aid programs of tens of billions of euros for the development of CO2 capture and storage projects, which have already been approved by the European Commission.
source: energypress.gr (George Fintikakis)
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