Pilot Energy and KNCC Partner to Store CO2 Offshore Australia
Australian oil and gas company Pilot Energy and Norway's Knutsen NYK Carbon Carriers (KNCC) have entered into a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on offering an integrated solution for marine transportation and offshore injection of CO2 at the Cliff Head CCS Project, offshore the coast of Perth, Australia.
Pilot and KNCC plan to develop solutions that 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’).
The Cliff Head CCS Project involves the conversion of the operating Cliff Head offshore oil field into a permanent CO2 storage operation capable of storing over 1mmtpa of CO2 on a continuous basis through to 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.
As for KNCC, the company is based in Haugesund, Norway, and is a joint venture company owned by the Knutsen Group of Norway and NYK Group of Japan, formed to target providing CO2 marine transportation to facilitate the injection of captured carbon into offshore reservoirs.
LCO2-EP has been granted the General Approval for Ship Application(‘GASA’) by class society DNV which enables KNCC to order vessels using this technology once the commercial and financial terms are agreed for the whole CCS value chain of Pilot’s Cliff Head CCS Project.
"During the initial three-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," Pilot Energy said.
Brad Lingo, Pilot’s Chairman, said: "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.
"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.” said
“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 LCO2 in ambient temperature and inject to the CO2 reservoirs offshore from our CO2 carriers,” said Anders Lepsøe, CEO of KNCC.