Steps to Achieve Storage Readiness for European Industrial CO2 Source Clusters, for Application to European Storage Sites, ALIGN-CCUS Project

Abstract

National appraisals of CO2 storage capacity underlying the North Sea provide estimates of significant volumes of theoretical capacity and indicate an abundance of potential storage sites. However, there is no indication of the level of understanding of individual sites or how ‘ready’ a site is for operational CO2 storage. The ALIGN-CCUS project has assessed the steps for storage site characterisation and the timescale and level of resources needed for a feasible store to become a contingent storage resource. Standardised definitions of CO2 Storage Readiness Levels (SRLs) are presented based on the experience of storage site characterisation and development in the North Sea. The qualitative steps are defined from a basic assessment of theoretical storage capacity at SRL 1, through contingent resource at SRL 6, Final Investment Decision at SRL 7 and an operational storage site at SRL 9. The SRL framework captures all the work that has gone into the assessment of a geological site for storage of CO2. It provides a simple communication tool to help to understand the entirety of work that has been undertaken at a storage site. SRLs can be applied to a single site, a concept for storage or as a component of a national storage portfolio. Application of the SRLs framework to a national storage portfolio will inform decision-makers developing CCS policy of the level of understanding of a storage site and how it compares with others in the national portfolio.