Analysis of potentials and costs of storage of CO2 in the Utsira aquifer in the North Sea FENCO - ERA NET

The potential capacity to store CO2 in the Utsira formation is very large, estimates range from 2 billions tonnes CO2 annually to a total cumulative storage capacity of 600 billions tonnes of CO2 (ACCSEPT 2007). Thus, it is expected that the Utsira format ion could be used as a CO2 reservoir for at least 20-30 years for several European countries. The use of Utsira as a European reservoir will however not only depend on its available capacity to store CO2 flows but mainly on the cost effectiveness of this option within (future) national portfolios of mitigation measures. Therefore, the possibility of storing CO2 at Utsira (including the costs of the pipeline network) needs to be assessed taking into account national CO2 reduction targets, temporal (e.g. de velopment of the energy system and new CO2 sources in each country) and spatial aspects (e.g. availability and location of local sinks and CO2 sources over time). Furthermore, special attention should be given to the costs and benefits of constructing a C O2 offshore network as part of an international cooperation project (i.e. co-financing the construction of the network by several countries). In this project quantitative analyses of specific scenarios for Denmark, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom will be carried out. The project will adopt a cost minimisation approach within the time horizon 2015 to 2050. Linear optimisation models such as MARKAL and TIMES will be used to assess how national energy systems with a CO2 infrastructure (including CO2 transport to Utsira) can be developed against minimal costs. The results of this project will generate insights into the role that a mega-structure such as Utsira could play for CCS deployment in each country and in the North Sea region. F urther, recommendations for appropriate capture technologies and infrastructure for CO2 with their possible levels and timing for each of the countries around the North Sea will be generated.