Italian Contribution to European CO2 Capture, Transport, and Storage Initiative

1. Il Contributo Italiano all’Iniziativa europea per la Cattura, il Trasporto e lo Stoccaggio della CO2 G. Cau, G. Girardi, P. Macini, E. Mesini, S. Persoglia Geofluid 2010 Piacenza (Italy)

2. Agenda • Background • Public acceptance • CCS challenges • Main projects under way • Main finalized research activities • International programmes • Cooperation agreements • Potential role of Italy in founding European Industrial Initiatives

3. Background • The need to update energy policies worldwide in order to deal with climate change is now unanimously considered a priority. Paramount is an approach integrating energy usage and production. Such an approach requires a transition towards an economy not any longer based on fossil fuels, but on an increased demand/supply efficiency and on renewable sources, while aiming at clean technologies and emissions close to zero. • The International Energy Agency (IEA) has agreed that the world’s energy demand will rise by 1.8% per year, falling back upon coal for over 1/3 of the total growth. In 2030, 97% of the forecasted emission increment will be due to non-OECD countries (3/4 of which in China, India and Middle East Countries). Therefore the energy and research policy must take the following factors into account: • a) fossil fuel demand will stay very high in the coming decades, above all in the Countries with an Emerging Economy; • b) the development and widespread commercial deployment of zero emission technologies at a competitive cost will take longer; • c) it is necessary to act to reduce the emissions into the atmosphere that fossil fuel usage will still bring about.

4. Background • IEA reckons that CCS techniques could contribute to reduce CO2 emissions by about 20% by 2050 in a scenario where at that time emissions will be 50% lower than today’s levels. Source: http://www.iea.org

5. Background • Regarding the regulatory aspects, many positive steps have been made on the international level to include CCS techniques into the London Protocol on marine pollution and into the OSPAR Treaty for the protection of the marine environment in the N-E Atlantic. • The regulatory framework is destined to evolve rapidly, above all thanks to the recent European Directive 2009/31/EC of 23 April 2009 on CO2Geological Storage2, which binds the member states to report on the implementation state of the Directive at national level by June 2011.

6. Public acceptance • Recent research indicates that more than 90% of the population is considering greenhouse effect mitigation an important factor to pursue with determination because of its implications on climate change. However most of the people are not fully aware of the potential of CCS. • The lack of awareness of the population regarding CCS makes it imperative that correct information from reliable sources is made available to the public. • A communication strategy addressing a wide and varied group of people to whom CCS is a concern is essential to prevent positions which are extremely anti-CCS, irrational or effectively opposing the objective from monopolizing the debate.

7. CCS challenges • CCS techniques have a strong potential for the reduction of CO2emissions. The objectives of the activity in the next few years can be summarized as follows: • a) lowering the cost of CCS to values < 30-40 €/t CO2; • b) reducing the investment and running costs of CCS installation; • c) reducing the added energy required by CCS technologies; • d) completing the mapping of geological sites suitable for CCS in Europe and in Italy; • e) starting CCS demonstration projects on an industrial scale; • f) supporting the European states in implementing the European Directive on CO2Geological Storage.

8. Main projects under way • ENEL – Geological storage in saline aquifers. This demonstrative project is conceived with the aim of evaluating the potential for CCS in Italy, with special regard to the areas located near the ENEL power plants of Civitavecchia, Brindisi and Porto Tolle. The construction of a 0.8 MNm3/h CCS installation treating part of the flue gases of a 660 MWe unit of the Porto Tolle power plant will follow. About 1 Mt/year of CO2will be transported to an offshore saline aquifer and injected underground.

9. Main projects under way • ENI – Feasibility study and pilot project of injection into a depleted hydrocarbon field. ENI is installing the surface infrastructure for CO2injection and monitoring in the Cortemaggiore gas field. The injection of 8000 t/yr of CO2will follow over a 3 year period, followed by 2 years of post injection monitoring. Studies on the utilization of the CO2will also be run in order to increase the recovery factor from Italian hydrocarbon fields.

10. Main projects under way • ENI-ENEL – Agreement for the development of CCS techniques. The agreement involves a joint study on the potential for CO2geological storage in Italy and the implementation of the first Italian CCS project. ENEL is busy with the construction of a pilot CO2post-combustion capture installation; the CO2will be liquefied in situ and transported to Cortemaggiore, where ENI will inject it into the depleted field. A joint study for a CCS demonstration project of 1 Mt/year is also involved.

11. Main projects under way • CARBOSULCIS – CBM and ECBM methane recovery and CO2storage ( Sulcis). The project has the objective of evaluating the feasibility of methane recovery and of CO2storage (ECBM) in vast parts of the Sulcis coal basin, Sardinia, which are not suitable for mining activities. Once the characterization of the basin has been completed through studies, analyses of existing data and experimentation, the second stage will follow, with the aim of defining all the remaining aspects for the construction of a pilot injection and storage installation.

12. Main projects under way • ENEL – CO2 capture demonstration projects. 1- post-combustion capture project = construction of a pilot plant of 10.000 Nm3/h to be installed at the Brindisi coal power plant. The CO2produced will be stored at ENI-Cortemaggiore. A 0.8 MNm3/h installation will be constructed to treat part of the flue gases of a 660 MWe unit of the Porto Tolle power plant. 2- “flameless” combustion of coal in atmosphere of O2, CO2 and water vapour, (1500 to 1700 °C and P> 4 bar). Process developed and licensed to ITEA, used now on a 5 MWt pilot plant, will be tested on a 48 MWe plant.

13. Main projects under way • TECHINT – Post-combustion CCS on gas fired power installation. The main goal is to apply post-combustion CO2capture to an existing 120 MWe gas fired cogenerative power installation operated by Tenaris at Dalmine steel industry; the feasibility study is finalized. • TECHINT – Pre-combustion pilot installation at Sotacarbo research centre (PRATO Project). The main goal is the design and construction of a pilot installation for pre-combustion CO2capture to be located in the research area of Sotacarbo (Sardinia); the feasibility study has already been finished.

14. Main projects under way • ENEA – Clean coal/zero emission project. Develop and demonstrate pre-combustion carbon capture technology, applied to a coal fired system, and CO2storage in coal beds (ECBM) and in saline aquifers. A pilot installation for the combined generation of electricity and hydrogen will be constructed in the research area of Sotacarbo (Sardinia). The captured CO2will be injected into coal beds managed by Carbosulcis and into the underlying aquifers. ENEA is part of the industrial demonstrative initiatives as well as in the aforementioned projects managed by Techint and in ENEL’s oxycombustion project.

15. Main projects under way • MSE-Lombardia Region agreement for the development of CCS techniques. A recent agreement (Feb. 2010), between MSE and Lombardia Region, promotes joint studies on the potential for CO2storage in Lombardia: the largest Italian CO2producer. The agreement is also finalized: 1) to foster voluntary agreements between industrial partners, research Institutes (public and/or private), and Universities; 2) to promote the processes involved with authorizative issues and public acceptability; 3) to promote a CCS pilot plant, also in order to transfer administrative competencies from the Italian government to Regional Authorities.

16. Main finalized research activities • SOTACARBO “COHYGEN project – pre-combustion technology” • ENEA “ZECOMIX project – pre-combustion technology”. • ENEA “CARBOMICROGEN project - distributed generation based on hydrogen rich syngas”. • ENEA “Coal fired power plants for electricity and hydrogen combined production project”. • ENEA “Oxy-combustion for coal fired power installations”. • ENEA/SOTACARBO “Coal gasification with CO2 capture and storage”. • RSE “Characterization of CO2 storage sites”. • RSE “Development of membranes for the separation of hydrogen from syngas”. The main goal is to develop new membranes by chemical deposition of palladium and its alloys on porous media for use in separating hydrogen from syngas. An especially valuable application is the Membrane Shift Reactor, already successfully demonstrated at the laboratory scale: the reaction is more effective when coupled with continuous hydrogen isolation. • RSE “Degradation of a turbogas running on hydrogen rich syngas”. • RSE “Sorbent solids suitable for the capture from combustion fumes”. • CNR “Innovative technologies for the improvement of the environmental performance of powdered coal power plants”. • ENEL/ENEA “MILD combustion project”.

17. International programs with the participation of Italian partners • Weyburn CO2 monitoring project. • NASCENT (Natural analogues for the geological storage of CO2). • CO2Net2 (Carbon dioxide thematic network). • CASTOR (CO2: from cCApture to STORage). • INCA-CO2 (INternational Co-operation Actions on CO2 capture and storage). • GeoCapacity (Assessing European capacity for geological storage of carbon dioxide). • DYNAMIS (Towards hydrogen and electricity production with carbon dioxide capture and storage). • CO2GeoNet (The European Network of eExcellence on the geological storage of CO2). • CO2ReMoVe (CO2 geological storage: Research Into Monitoring And Verification technology). • MovECBMm (Monitoring and verification of Enhanced Coal Bed Methane). • CCP and CCP2 (CO2 Capture Project). • RISCS (Research into Impacts and Safety in CO2 Storage). • SOCRATES (Scale One CO2 Recovery and Trapping Engineering Studies) .

18. Cooperation agreements underway or desirable at the European or international level • Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) • European Technology Platform on ZEFFPP • Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI) • Bilateral agreement Italy-USA about CCT and CCS • European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) • European Framework Program on R&D • ECCSEL (European Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage Laboratory Infrastructure)

19. Potential role of Italian stakeholders in the founding of European Industrial Initiatives • 1) ENEL, together with ENI, is pushing a post combustion technology demo plant (Porto Tolle) and an oxy-combustion facility (to be constructed near Brindisi). • 2) Sotacarbo and ENEA have carried out a feasibility study for a 400 MWe coal fired demo plant with CCS to be realized in Sardinia (Sulcis demo Project). • 3) Sotacarbo and Carbosulcis, together with ENEA, OGS, Universities, and others, are managing a project aiming at evaluating the feasibility of methane recovery (CBM) and of CO2 storage (ECBM) in the Sulcis coal basin, Sardinia, not suitable for mining activities.

20. Potential role of Italian stakeholders in the founding of European Industrial Initiatives • 4) Sotacarbo and ENEA are carrying out activities on pre combustion CCS and planned to realize a pre-combustion and coal to liquid zero emission pilot plant with CO2 capture and storage. • 5) ITEA has planned an oxy-combustion project applied to different sectors – Gioia del Colle pilot plant. • 6) Techint and Tenaris, together with ENEA and RSE, have completed a feasibility study to retrofit the Tenaris combined cycle plant (of about 120 MWe) with a CO2 post-combustion capture system with storage in a deep saline aquifer of the Bergamo area.