Transport of CO2 in the Nordic region

Abstract

NORDICCS is a virtual CCS networking platform aiming for increased CCS deployment in the five Nordic countries. This paper reports from work investigating options for CO2 transport infrastructure in the Nordic region. Five specific CCS cases have been selected from which capture is analyzed in detail and from which CO2 transport cost has been calculated assuming CO2 being captured only at the site itself or, assuming the selected capture site develops into a CO2-hub with CO2 from several adjacent sources. In the latter case cost has been calculated defining for what volumes pipeline transport becomes less costly than corresponding ship transport. Additionally, cost for both pipeline and ship transport has been calculated as a function of distance and volume in order to apply these calculations to derive the least costly transport mode for the fifty-five largest sources in the region with a coastal location. Also, the effect on cost for systems that will require ramp-up (i.e. transported volumes increase over time) has been calculated. Finally, an analysis of the potential for build-up of clusters in the region was performed. The work clearly shows that ship transport is the least costly transport option, not only for the five selected cases individually but also for most of the emission sources located along the coastline. The work also shows that ship transport is the least costly transport option for most of the potential clusters in the region during the ramp-up phase. An obvious but still important conclusion is that constrained storage capability and injectivity may have a profound impact on design and cost of a CO2 transport system.