Pre-commercial appraisal for CO2 aquifer storage

Expected Outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcome:

• Support pre-commercial CO2 geological storage appraisal, speed up storage site development, support planning of CO2 capture projects (and related source to store linkages), and help closing the storage capacity gap, in particular in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.

Scope

• Carry out a storage site identification and appraisal programme including at least one injection pilot test in a deep saline aquifer. Injection tests can be done with water only to reduce cost and testing duration, although this could possibly (but not necessarily) be complemented by water with CO2 (or N2) to determine the reservoir injectivity with different phases.
• Cooperate with a national competent authority to ensure support in terms of the selection of the priority target formations and to have access to existing subsurface data. Demonstrate how the test site has been identified, and that CO2 storage is legally possible in the designated area.
• Test sites must be in a saline aquifer at a minimal depth of 800 m, in a geologically stable area, with minimal faulting and fracturing, that provide significant scalable storage capacity (proven confinement, limited heterogeneity, and with favourable porosity and permeability and porosity), and are expected to gain the necessary permits, following the appraisal and testing. The geological conditions of the site should be defined in term of risks as it is in the Directive, that is, proposed site must demonstrate, in line with existing data, that prior analysis shows that, under the proposed conditions of use, there is no significant risk of leakage or damage to human health or the environment.
• Tests should be designed as to allow a reliable quantification of the injectivity index. Test duration should be optimised to achieve a representative pressure transient response.
• The Horizon Europe grant can support all data acquisition, processing and interpretation, modelling, the drilling, completion and logging of the test well, the injectivity test, and the measuring & monitoring technologies. These operations can be carried out by the consortium or be subcontracted.

This topic contributes to the R&I activity in the SET-Plan CCUS Implementation Plan[1] to unlock CO2 storage capacity through support to pre-commercial appraisal activities.

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project - see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] 06700519-1f0f-49b7-bd03-b9021e08fc1b_en