DNV has released a new guideline for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects. The CO2WELLS guideline is the result of a major joint industry project which brought together upstream operators and power utility companies. Aimed at project developers and authorities, it describes a generic framework process for managing the risks associated with existing wells at carbon dioxide (CO2) storage locations, both onshore and offshore.
DNV has previously published industry guidelines across the full CCS value chain of capture, transport and storage. These guidelines have been implemented by a number of companies for their current and planned CO2 operations, as well as being adopted by authorities as a component in their own regulations.
The CO2WELLS guideline represents the latest addition to this series. Within the field of CO2 geological storage, it supplements DNV’s CO2QUALSTORE guideline which was published in 2010 following a similar joint industry initiative.
Together, these two guidelines provide a generic capital value process for CCS projects that is designed to qualify geological storage sites through iterative cycles of risk and uncertainty reducing measures. The integrity of existing wells at CO2 storage sites has been highlighted as a potential concern, and the new CO2WELLS guideline addresses this issue head on.
The guideline describes a risk management framework for existing wells at potential CO2 storage sites, both onshore and offshore. It is aimed at project developers and authorities and includes guidance on:
• Risk assessment of active and abandoned wells during the initial screening of candidate storage sites;
• The qualification of these wells for continued or modified use in a CCS project.
The guideline is consistent with the ISO31000 international standard for risk management and with current and emerging regulations for CO2 geological storage in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.
Participants of the CO2WELLS joint industry project:
• DNV
• E.On Engineering
• GASSCO
• GASSNOVA
• Global CCS Institute
• Health & Safety Executive UK
• National Grid
• Petrobras
• RWE
• Shell Canada
• Vattenfall
Unified guidelines to speed up CCS implementation
DNV believes that CCS is a strategically important technology for maintaining sustainable growth whilst reducing CO2 emissions. By permanently storing CO2 produced by industrial processes in deep geological formations, it has been highlighted as one of the key technologies that can facilitate a transition to a more carbon neutral world.
For CCS to play a significant role in combating climate change, however, a significant number of commercial scale projects must be initiated around the world within the coming years. To boost the deployment of CCS in a safe and sustainable way, there is a need for unified, recognized and publicly available guidelines that provide the standards that can help speed up innovation.
Mike Carpenter, project manager at DNV, said, “DNV’s core philosophy is that technology development and knowledge sharing foster innovation and improvements in safety. So when industry is facing challenges like CCS, the best way of solving them is for the key players to join forces through joint industry projects. In this way we, as an industry, can develop global best practices and standards.”
All of DNV’s guidelines and recommended practices for CCS have been developed through joint industry projects and are freely available from www.dnv.com/ccs
Download images and the new CO2WELLS guideline here.
Contact
Mike Carpenter
tel +47 991 13 151
Mike.Carpenter@dnv.com
Svein Inge Leirgulen
Communications manager
tel +47 977 23 133
svile@dnv.com
About DNV
DNV is a global provider of services for managing risk, with safeguarding life, property and the environment as its purpose. Organised as an independent and autonomous foundation with no proprietors, DNV balances the needs of business and society, based on its independence and integrity. DNV serves a range of high-risk industries, with a special focus on the maritime and energy sectors.
Established in 1864, the company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and has a global presence comprising 300 offices in 100 countries. Its prime assets are the knowledge and expertise of 9,000 employees from more than 80 nations.
