carbon capture

Brussels set to approve state support plan for Prinos CCS

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The European Commission is set to approve Greek State funding support for Energean’s Prinos CCS project following the completion of a third round of exchange between Greece’s energy ministry and the Brussels authority on the issue, energypress sources have informed.

Pre-notification of the support scheme was announced last June, but this was followed by three rounds of consultation entailing questions which the Greek ministry was required to answer, in line with the European Commission’s CEEAG procedures concerning guidelines on State aid in the climate, environment and energy sectors.

The Prinos CCS project has been included on the sixth edition of the EU’s PCI/PMI list.

Greek gas grid operator DESFA has already received funding support worth 75 million euros through the REPowerEU program for the development of a pipeline to serve carbon capture units planned to be installed by cement producers Heracles and Titan at their respective facilities in Milaki, on the island Evia, and Kamari, in the Viotia region, slightly northwest of Athens.

DESFA’s pipeline will deliver emissions from the two production plants to a carbon dioxide liquefaction facility, which will also be built by DESFA but will not be supported by REPowerEU funding.

The liquefied emissions of the two cement plants will then be transferred for permanent storage at the Prinos CCS, an underground facility to be developed by Energean.

Talks have begun at a European level, as highlighted in a recent European Commission report, for the establishment of an extensive CO2 transport network by 2050.

According to the report, CO2 transport pipelines in the EU could reach up to 19,000 km by 2050 and will require investments of between 9.3 and 23.1 billion euros.

Greece is considered among the European countries that can potentially contribute to CO2 storage, the Prinos underground storage facility being pivotal to this potential.

Significant emission cuts from domestic industry, SEV notes

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Greece’s industrial sector is now responsible for 47.5 percent of the country’s total carbon emissions, down from 59 percent in 2010, with plans for more reductions further ahead, SEV, the Hellenic Association of Industrialists, has noted in a special report.

Greek industry has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent over the last 10 years, the sixth largest reduction in the EU, SEV highlighted in its report.

Furthermore, the sector’s share of energy consumption is lower than in most European countries, accounting for only 17 percent of consumption, the SEV report noted.

Renewable energy facilities installed by domestic industrial and energy groups are playing a key role in Greece’s transition to cleaner forms of energy, according to the association.

Greek industry is supporting European goals for climate neutrality by 2050 by investing in renewable energy sources and reducing carbon emissions, while also improving efficiency of resource utilization, SEV noted.

However, high energy costs, environmental-impact limitations and a lack of investment incentives in the EU, putting European firms at a disadvantage compared to US competitors, are tempting many European enterprises, including Greek, especially energy-intensive companies, to consider moving out of the continent, a development that threatens to bring about a new wave of deindustrialization, SEV warned in its report.

Investments in green or digital technologies, as well as in production of crucial raw materials, to end a reliance on non-EU countries, are needed, the report noted.

Though energy costs have fallen considerably since the summer of 2022, they remain high and stand as one of the biggest challenges faced by the industrial sector, SEV pointed out.

Energy costs in Greece are among the highest in the EU, SEV stressed. Last August, wholesale electricity in Greece was priced at 109.33 euros per MWh, compared to 94.41 euros per MWh in Germany, 90.96 euros per MWh in France, 96.09 euros per MWh in Spain, and 97.91 euros per MWh in Portugal.

SEV, in its report, presented four proposals aimed at protecting the competitiveness of Greek industry.

It called for the implementation of energy cost-restricting mechanisms and tools; reinforcement and expansion of electricity transmission networks, as well as development of new networks that could establish Greece as an energy hub in the wider east Mediterranean; sufficient development of energy networks to support RES facilities in their production of electricity for the industrial sector; and financial support for green-transition investments in new technologies such as CO2 capture and storage.

 

DESFA decision on CO2 capture and transport project in 2024

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Gas grid operator DESFA expects to have completed its feasibility study for Prinos CO2, a carbon capture, transport and storage synergy with Energean by autumn ahead of an investment decision within 2024, followed by possible development of the project, energypress sources have informed.

Prinos CO2 has successfully passed a technical assessment for inclusion on the European Commission’s sixth PCI list, making the project eligible for inclusion on a preliminary list that is expected to be finalized in November.

The project is budgeted at 1.4 billion euros. DESFA’s share of the budget total is estimated at 500 million euros.

Irrespective of the possible synergy between DESFA and Energean for a single project concerning the capture, transport and storage of CO2 quantities, DESFA is also considering developing its share of the project at infrastructure other than Prinos, if Prinos CO2 does not proceed.

DESFA aspires to develop an entire CO2 transport chain to collect pollutants from the facilities of polluters and, through its own infrastructure, transport these quantities into storage.

This system is planned to cover Viotia, northwest of Athens, the wider Athens area, as well as Corinth, west of the capital. These areas host cement industries, refineries and power plants.

Motor Oil, Titan CCS grants step towards value chain

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Energy group Motor Oil and cement producer TITAN have been selected for EU Innovation Fund grants, supporting innovative low-carbon technologies, for respective carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiatives taken by the two corporate groups.

Their selections promise to create opportunities for synergies and the development of a domestic value chain in the CCS sector.

For example, an annual sum of 1.9 million tons of CO2 to be captured at TITAN’s production facility in Viotia’s Kamari area, slightly northwest of Athens, will benefit Energean’s CCS project at its depleted offshore oil fields in the northern part of the Aegean Sea.

The Prinos CCS also stands to gain from Innovation Fund selection for cement industry Holcim’s production facility in Croatia, as Prinos is the nearest CCS facility. On a larger scale, the Prinos CCS can develop into southeast Europe’s first CCS facility catering to industry.

Motor Oil’s Iris project, concerning carbon capture at the energy group’s Oil’s refinery in Corinth, west of Athens, has been selected for a 127 million-euro Innovation Fund grant, it has just been announced.

This development gives Motor Oil the opportunity to greatly reduce its carbon footprint, produce 56,000 tons of blue hydrogen annually, and prepare the groundwork for e-fuel production, through the development and operation of a new low-carbon synthetic methanol production plant.

TITAN’s Ifestos carbon capture project, also just selected for an Innovation Fund grant, will enable the group to produce approximately 3 million tons of zero-carbon cement on an annual basis.

CCS technology development promises multiple benefits

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The development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology promises multiple benefits to the country’s environment, economy and industry as the achievement of carbon neutrality targets and an effective response to growing demand for low-carbon products can establish the country as a leader in sustainable development, EDEYEP (Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company) and professional services firm KPMG have noted.

The development of CCS technology can provide a competitive advantage to Greek industries, creating employment opportunities and attracting EU funding, in particular through the Innovation Fund, they pointed out.

Building a value chain in CCS technology will contribute to the country’s prosperity and the achievement of its climate goals, while contributing to the global effort to combat climate change, EDEYEP and KPMG noted.

Though a related framework has been prepared, it requires more flexibility, according to EDEYEP and KPMG.

An important step in this direction was taken with a new regulation allowing holders of hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation concessions to use surveys they have already carried out, and the data they have collected, to obtain a permit to explore for CO2 storage in parts of the block they have been granted.

 

EDEY studying Norwegian upstream diversification

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EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, is exploring, with the expertise and support of Norwegian scientists, the prospect of incorporating carbon capture and storage (CCS) and offshore wind farms into its range of activities, taking Norway as an example.

The effort is being conducted with financial support from the European Economic Area (EEA) grants mechanism, established by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein with the aim, amongst other matters, of strengthening bilateral ties with 15 European countries, including Greece.

Norway, which has accumulated years of expertise through hydrocarbon extraction, has successfully combined its upstream sector with new energy fields such as CCS and offshore wind farms.

According to EDEY chief executive Aristofanis Stefatos, the objective is to make note of the most positive aspects of these Norwegian synergies to help Greece develop important projects needed for the energy transition, without excluding exploration of natural gas deposits in Greek seas should market conditions become appropriate.

The EDEY study with Norwegian experts, titled “Review of the Transformation of the Norwegian Oil and Gas Industry during the Energy Transition and its application in Greece”, began last April and has been included in the EEA Grants program covering 2014 to 2021.

 

 

PPC holding back on Ptolemaida V fuel decision

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Power utility PPC will take ongoing global technological developments and their comparative costs into account to decide, in approximately a year’s time, on the fuel to be used at its prospective Ptolemaida V power station in northern Greece from 2028 onwards, when a switch from lignite has been scheduled.

The facility, expected to be completed in 2022, is initially planned to operate as a lignite-fired power station for a six-year period before switching to another fuel or fuels.

All options are being left open, meaning that, beyond 2028, Ptolemaida V could run on natural gas, biomass, waste-to-energy or a combination of these energy sources.

Biomass represents an advantageous option as it can be produced at the utility’s older lignite-fired units in the area, PPC’s chief executive Giorgos Stassis has pointed out.

If a biomass option is chosen, PPC intends to provide land for farmers and cooperatives to cultivate plants for energy production. Yield potential and the local climate promise to be the two main factors behind PPC’s selection of plant species to be cultivated for biomass purposes.

Japan’s Mitsubishi, providing the new facility’s electromechanical equipment, was commissioned, some time ago, to conduct a study determining the optimal choice of fuel for Ptolemaida V beyond 2028.

Continued use of lignite, after 2028, at Ptolemaida V has also been tabled as a possibility if carbon-capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is applied for a zero net carbon footprint.

In such a case, the CCUS technology could be applied on a wider scale to lure industrial units to the region for the establishment of a new industrial zone.

Carbon-capture option latest proposal for Ptolemaida V

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A carbon-capture proposal that would enable power utility PPC’s Ptolemaida V plant, currently under construction, to keep operating beyond 2028, a decarbonization deadline set by the government, has emerged as the latest option for the project’s future.

Carbon capture, a process preventing carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, would limit emissions by approximately 80 percent, making the Ptolemaida unit in Greece’s north, close to Kozani, feasible amid an environment of escalating CO2 emission right costs.

It is believed opting for a carbon-capture solution would equate Ptolemaida V’s emission-related costs with those of a natural gas-fired unit. Carbon storage is also being examined.

Ptolemaida V was initially planned as a coal generator but a number of alternatives, including a switch to natural gas powering, are now being considered, especially since the government’s recent pledge of a decarbonized Greek energy sector by 2028.

PPC and energy ministry officials have received the carbon capture proposal for Ptolemaida V.

Greek government MP Giorgos Amanatidis, representing the lignite-rich Kozani constituency, has contacted a scientific team behind the development of a major carbon-capture project in Texas, USA.

The MP has also spoken with investors interested in such a solution for Ptolemaida V.

A carbon-capture option would enable the continuation of lignite mining in the Kozani area, seen as key support for the local economy.