An Update on the South African Pilot CO2 Storage Project

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South Africa is reliant on fossil fuels. These fossil fuels are important to economic development, being the most dependable, cost-effective energy source currently available in this country however, their conventional use results in significant CO2 emissions for the country. South Africa will require a portfolio of technologies to reduce its CO2 emissions however with a heavily coal-based economy, CCS is likely to be a particularly important part of this portfolio. To assess the technical potential for CCS in South Africa, the South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (SACCCS) was established in 2009 as a public-private research collaboration. The current focus of SACCCS is the development of the Pilot CO2 Storage Project (PCSP) which will inject and store between 10-50,000tCO2 in South African conditions. With the development of the PCSP now underway, there has been significant progress to date, in particular in the areas of funding, permitting and stakeholder engagement where around USD 50 million has been raised for the project, a request for approval for basin exploration submitted, and a significant number of stakeholders engaged. There have however also been some delays with the development of the PCSP, particularly following the PCSP Advisory Committee (PAC) review of geological analysis done to date for the Zululand and Algoa Basins. The PAC recommended that more information could yet be extracted from the existing data prior to deciding whether or not to progress to the acquisition of new geological data (Gate 2 Review). SAC CCS is now working on the implementation of the PAC Review recommendations and the development of Gate 2 Deliverables in preparation for the Gate 2 Review.