Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, Gassco and classification society DNV announce a JIP to develop new marine solutions for the transportation of carbon dioxide without the use of pipelines.
A view of a carbon capture and transportation system being developed by DNV. Credit: DNV website
Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, Gassco and classification society DNV announced a JIP to develop new marine solutions for the transportation of carbon dioxide without the use of pipelines. The CETO (CO2 Efficient Transport via Ocean) JIP will design a low-pressure ship and identify solutions to scale up carbon dioxide transportation volume, while reducing the associated risks, to support the development of opportunities in carbon capture and storage. CETO is funded by the project partners and GASSNOVA through the CLIMIT program and is expected to be completed in 2023.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be a key technology if the world is to meet the goals of the Paris and Glasgow agreements. Although the technologies and the industry are very much still emerging, a possible challenge is connecting capture sources to facilities for use or storage sites, especially where pipelines are not an option. As a result, carbon dioxide transport ship technology will be needed if large quantities are to be safely transported at costs that are commercially viable. Today, most transport of carbon emissions via ship takes place at small scale and at medium pressure (15 bar at -28ºC), limiting the possibilities of scaling up to meet future growth in CCS.
To transport carbon dioxide safely and efficiently at industrial scale by ship, low pressure transport systems (approx. 7 bar at -49ºC) are a potential solution, as this enables much larger tank volumes, cargo capacities and therefore reduced transportation costs. However, the industry currently has little practical experience with the transport of liquid CO2 (LCO2) under these conditions.
The JIP looks to build experience in low pressure transport and fill a vital knowledge gap, by examining the fundamentals of a low-pressure CO2 transport chain. Johan Petter Tutturen, VP, Special Projects – Gas at DNV said: “As an important part of tackling the climate crisis, reducing costs across the whole CCS value chain is essential. Low pressure CO2 ship designs are a potentially important piece of the chain, but they need to be reliable and meet accepted safety standards.”
Syrie Crouch, VP Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage at Shell said: “As we build a wider global CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) network that connects CO2 emitters with sinks, it is critical that we are able to ship CO2 safely, economically and at scale. Ensuring these CO2 transport vessels and their associated loading/unloading facilities are standardized to enable interconnectivity between capture and storage facilities will be key to their success.”