Scenarios and new technologies for a North-European CO2 transport infrastructure in 2050

Abstract

Abstract This paper assesses possible scenarios for Northern Europe for transportation of CO2 in 2050 as part of a CCS infrastructure, giving focus on off-shore transportation. In addition, the possibility and costs for utilizing the solid Scandinavian bedrock for intermediate storage of CO2 is preliminarily assessed. The preliminary results indicate that an underground storage unit of 50 000 m3 or larger would have a significantly smaller investment cost than a similarly-sized steel tank storage complex. The cost for transporting CO2 from Finland to final geological CO2 storage sites abroad is higher compared to that from the coastal regions in countries around the North Sea. However, by joint transport infrastructure projects the industry and power production around the presented regions can reach significant cost reductions for CO2 transport. The ship transport infrastructure benefits from a model where nearby capture plants are connected by pipelines to exporting terminal hubs. Trunklines towards geological storage sites are especially cost efficient in the CO2 emission intensive regions close to the North Sea. The on-shore storage potential in western Latvia would also provide a promising opportunity for CO2 trunklines from other Baltics and from Finland. In the heavily CO2 emitting regions of northern Germany, the local on-shore storage accessed by trunklines from the surrounding areas would provide very competitive CO2 transport infrastructure for the local industry and power production. The results indicate that shared CO2 transportation infrastructure by ships would often be the best transport option from the Baltic Sea region to final storage sites at the North Sea. Especially the heavily industrialized regions on the shore of the Gulf of Finland can benefit from a shared transport infrastructure