A new market that will relieve Greek industry of its carbon footprint is being built in Greece.
It concerns the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) projects which have now been put on a development trajectory. The “chain” begins with projects to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from Greek industries, their collection and transport by the National Natural Gas System Operator (DESFA) and their storage in geological formations (in the first phase in Prinos by Energean) or their use for the production of alternative fuels.
The Prinos CO2 project on the OT FORUM
Regarding the CO2 storage, Enearth, a subsidiary of Energean that "runs" the project in Prinos (Prinos CO2 Storage), has already submitted an application for a storage permit from the Hellenic Hydrocarbon and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA) since last July.
As stated on December 2, speaking at the 4th OT FORUM, HEREMA CEO Mr. Aris Stefatos, "the project material, which consists of 45 technical reports and 1,000 pages, is in the technical evaluation phase, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2024."
At the same time, according to him, the environmental permit is also pending (the study was submitted by the company in early August) and the information of the Commission (DG Clima), which is obliged to submit comments before the issuance of the final permit. The storage capacity in the almost depleted oil fields of Prinos is planned to operate, in the first phase, with a capacity of 1 million tons of CO2 and in the second phase 3 million tons of CO2.
Energean
As pointed out from the "OT Forum" stage, the CEO and country manager of Energean, Mrs. Katerina Sardi, the project began to be planned in 2019 for the receipt of compressed CO2 from industries in the wider Kavala area and the target of storing 1 million tons. This is also the part of the project financed by the Recovery Fund (ed. It has been approved by the Commission under the European Union's rules on state aid, with a grant of 150 million euros). However, it was later determined that the storage capacity needed to be increased to 3 million tons to cover other businesses located a few hundred kilometers from the Kavala area, with the CO2 having to be transported to Prinos in liquefied form.
"Therefore, a reception station for ships that will transport CO2 in liquefied form is required. This part of the project is not covered by the Recovery Fund as the initial planning in 2019 did not foresee such a thing. Therefore, additional funding is required and we have already submitted a request to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) mechanism for the second phase of the project," noted Ms. Sardi.
Industry preparation
For his part, Mr. Stefatos underlined that the industry, which is struggling to find an alternative solution for managing its pollutants, has secured subsidies for projects to capture 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). “So with Prinos at 3 million tons, we are close to meeting immediate demand with a projection to 2028-29,” he stressed. The European Union’s Innovation Fund has approved 127 million euros for Motor Oil’s Iris project, 234 million euros for Titan’s Ifestos and 124.5 million euros for Hercules’ Olympus. HELLENiQ Energy has also submitted a funding proposal.
The Hercules Group
In particular, from the podium of the 4th OT FORUM, the CEO of the Iraklis cement industry, Mr. Dimitris Hanis, stated that the group focused on the energy transition of the two cement plants in Volos and Aliveri. According to him, the next investment plan amounts to 600 million euros, with investments of 30 million euros this year and 80 million euros in 2025. In any case, as he emphasized, "the crowning glory of our investments is the green transformation of the plant in Aliveri, with a project to capture CO2, liquefy it and transport it for storage in Prinos, with a total budget of 400 million euros, which is financed with 125 million euros by the European Union". The project is in the study phase and, as Mr. Hanis pointed out, will start in 2025.
At the same time, DESFA is proceeding with the investment and technological maturation of the first CO2 transport network in Greece, which, after being collected by industries, will be liquefied in a special facility in Attica, near Revithoussa and transported by ship to the Prinos storage facility. For “Apollo CO2”, the Operator recently submitted an application to the CEF mechanism for financing the studies and construction of the liquefaction unit with 160 million euros. The total cost amounts to 500 to 600 million euros. The projects of Energean and DESFA have been jointly included in the list of Projects of Common European Interest.
The role of shipping
The shipping industry will play an important role in the transport of liquefied CO2 to Prinos. Speaking more generally about the green transition of shipping but mainly about how it can contribute to it, the CEO of Capital Clean Energy Carriers, Mr. Gerasimos Kalogiratos, from the podium of the 4th OT Forum spoke about the role that shipping will play in the new market of carbon capture, its liquefaction and its transport for storage by ships.
Referring to Capital Clean Energy Carriers, he underlined that, in addition to the 18 LNG ships and ten other LPG and blue or green ammonia transport ships, it also has 4 other liquefied carbon dioxide transport ships. “This is a world first, there are no such ships. We have positioned ourselves early in this market,” he stressed. And he added: “Greek shipping and Greek industry are pioneering. They are investing in order to create a chain – a Greek supply chain – regarding the transport and storage of carbon dioxide from us who provide the ships for the transport of liquefied CO2 to the warehouse. It is a new chain, it needs support from the EU. In essence, we are transporting waste, in order to reduce the global carbon footprint,” concluded Mr. Kalogiratos.
Investigations into other geological repositories
At the same time, research in the field of CCUS is being developed by many European research centers, institutions and companies, including the Greek National Center for Research and Technological Development (CERTH), which participates in many projects, mostly funded by the EU. According to the Director of Research at CERTH, Dr. Nikolaos Koukouzas, one of the first European projects on carbon dioxide management in which the research center participated, already in 2013, was RISCS, in the framework of which the potential impacts of carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage from geological formations in the environment (crops, pastures, groundwater, living organisms), either on land or in the sea, were estimated and evaluated.
“Four natural CO2 sites in Greece, Italy and France were studied, one of which was the Florina Basin in Northern Greece, an industrially exploited CO2 deposit located within a limestone-sandstone sequence. In a second step, controlled CO2 injection experiments were carried out in sites in the United Kingdom and Norway. This paved the way for the study of the effects of leakage in controlled CO2 injection and storage systems within underground geological formations,” explains Mr. Koukouzas. Thus, the RISCS Guide was issued with conclusions and recommendations, opening the horizons for subsequent projects and research and enabling the synthesis of strategic plans and models for the development of sustainable and safe CCS units.
Where will pilot storage units be created?
Five years later, in 2019, one of the most important CERTH projects in this field followed, the European project STRATEGY CCUS which investigated the development of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies from industrial areas in Europe. Eight areas in seven European countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Romania, Poland and Greece) were studied, one of which was the region of Western Macedonia which includes the industrial areas of Kozani and Ptolemaida as a CO2 source, and the Mesohelleniki Avlaka as a CO2 storage site.
The project aimed to pave the way for the development of operational CCUS facilities in our region, analyzing every aspect involved in their development. It even took the application of CCUS technologies from industrial zones to saline reservoirs at a European level a step further and laid the foundation for the development of pilot units in subsequent projects, such as PilotSTRATEGY which proceeded to the more practical part, investigating cases of application of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and developing the creation of pilot CCS units.
The three areas where pilot CO2 storage units will be established include the Paris Basin (sedimentary basin), Lusitania in Portugal and Evros in Spain and, in the future, the basins of Western Macedonia (covering the industrial areas of Kozani and Ptolemaida and the Mesohelleniki Avlaka as a CO2 storage site) and Upper Silesia in Poland. PilotSTRATEGY has received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 and is expected to be completed in 2026.
source: ot.gr
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