Picture by KNCC: LCO2 carrier equipped with a LCO2 EP tank system.
Knutsen NYK Carbon Carriers AS (KNCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pilot Energy Limited, an Australian oil and gas company that is pursuing to leverage its existing infrastructure to develop clean energy projects, to collaborate on an integrated solution for marine transportation and offshore injection of CO2.
The objective under the MoU is for Pilot and KNCC to develop solutions which will enable large scale industrial emitters to transport via ship, ambient temperature LCO2 and to inject and permanently store CO2 at the Cliff Head CCS Project.
Pilot’s Cliff Head CO2 storage project is an integral component of its Mid West Clean Energy project (MWCEP). It involves the conversion of the operating Cliff Head offshore oil field into a permanent CO2 storage operation capable of storing over 1 mmtpa of CO2 on a continuous basis through 2050 with over 50 million tonnes of potential total storage capacity.
The MWCEP aims at producing over 1.2 mmtpa of low cost, clean ammonia for export with approximately 99% carbon capture through fully integrated carbon capture and storage utilizing the Cliff Head CCS Project.
During the initial 3-year term of the MoU, Pilot and KNCC will work together to assess the technical and commercial solution to initially target the provision of a CO2 transportation service to emitters based in the Western Australian Kwinana Industrial Area. To the extent there are any costs to be incurred, each party will bear its own costs, the duo said.
Norway-based KNCC, a joint venture company owned by the Knutsen Group of Norway and NYK Group of Japan, is focussed on the technical and commercial development of a liquefied CO2 marine transportation and storage business worldwide using its propriety containment system technology; LCO2-EP. The system allows transport of liquified CO2 at ambient temperatures, and it has been granted the General Approval for Ship Application(‘GASA’) by class society DNV.
Following the approval, KNCC said the company was ready to order LCO2 carriers fitted with its unique LCO2-EP containment system. The orders are expected to be placed once the commercial and financial terms are agreed for the whole CCS value chain of Pilot’s Cliff Head CCS Project.
Following the Approval in Principle (AiP) awarded last year, KNCC has gone through detail design and discussion with engineers, consultants, shipyards, subcontractors to prepare extensive documentation, calculations, and drawings to prove the capability of its design to achieve the GASA. KNCC described the GASA as a huge milestone enabling the company to move forward with the ordering of LCO2 carriers with its unique containment system.
“KNCC’s innovative LCO2-EP containment system for the transportation of liquefied CO2 at ambient temperatures is an ideal solution to efficiently transport captured CO2 emissions from the Kwinana Industrial Area and provide a low-cost direct offshore CO2 unloading and injection system for permanent storage in the Cliff Head CCS Project,” said Brad Lingo, Pilot’s Chairman.
“We are extremely enthusiastic about this new collaboration and being able to offer a one-stop shop solution, in conjunction with Svante, for the capture, the transportation, and permanent storage of CO2 emissions, enabling Pilot to support a major reduction in industrial CO2 emissions for such an important industrial centre as Kwinana.”
“With the MOU in place we are excited to work with Pilot, which is targeting to transport and store CO2 at ambient temperature. We will contribute to Cliff Head CCS Project’s realization by utilizing our cost efficient, flexible, and scalable LCO2-EP technology to transport the CO2 in ambient temperature and inject to the CO2 reservoirs offshore from our CO2 carriers,” said Anders Lepsøe, CEO of KNCC.
Source: offshore-energy.biz