THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING A CO2 TEST INJECTION: EXPERIENCE TO DATE AND BEST PRACTICE Report: 2013/13 October 2013 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY The International Energy Agency (IEA) was established in 1974 within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to implement an international energy programme. The IEA fosters co-operation amongst its 28 member countries and the European Commission, and with the other countries, in order to increase energy security by improved efficiency of energy use, development of alternative energy sources and research, development and demonstration on matters of energy supply and use. This is achieved through a series of collaborative activities, organised under more than 40 Implementing Agreements. These agreements cover more than 200 individual items of research, development and demonstration. IEAGHG is one of these Implementing Agreements. DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as an account of the work sponsored by IEAGHG. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the IEAGHG, its members, the International Energy Agency, the organisations listed below, nor any employee or persons acting on behalf of any of them. In addition, none of these make any warranty, express or implied, assumes any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product of process disclosed or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights, including any parties intellectual property rights. Reference herein to any commercial product, process, service or trade name, trade mark or manufacturer does not necessarily constitute or imply any endorsement, recommendation or any favouring of such products. COPYRIGHT Copyright © IEA Environmental Projects Ltd. (IEAGHG) 2013. All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CITATIONS This report describes research sponsored by IEAGHG. This report was prepared by: CO2CRC The principal researchers were: • Peter Cook, CO2CRC • Rick Causebrook, CO2CRC • Karsten Michael, CO2CRC • Max Watson, CO2CRC To ensure the quality and technical integrity of the research undertaken by IEAGHG each study is managed by an appointed IEAGHG manager. The report is also reviewed by a panel of independent technical experts before its release. The IEAGHG manager for this report was: Millie Basava-Reddi The expert reviewers for this report were: • Andrew Garnett, University of Queensland • Axel Liebscher, GFZ • Charlie Gorecki, EERC • Hubert Fabriol, BRGM • Jerry Hill, Southern States Energy Board • Kyle Worth, PTRC • Neeraj Gupta, Battelle • Steve Whittaker, Global CCS Institute • Ziqiu Xue, RITE The report should be cited in literature as follows: ‘IEAGHG, “The Process of Developing a Test Injection: Experience to Date and Best Practice, 2013/13, month, 2013.’ Further information or copies of the report can be obtained by contacting IEAGHG at: IEAGHG, Orchard Business Centre, Stoke Orchard, Cheltenham, GLOS., GL52 7RZ, UK Tel: +44(0) 1242 680753 Fax: +44 (0)1242 680758 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.ieaghg.org THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING A CO2 TEST INJECTION: EXPERIENCE TO DATE AND BEST PRACTICE Key Messages • Data from 45 small scale projects and 43 large scale projects have been compiled in order to extract learnings and best practice guidelines were reviewed. • No project is the same, and there is not a perfect template, however lessons learnt from previous projects can be applied to new projects. • There needs to be an agreed and well defined workflow with clear decision points. • At a very early stage, there needs to be very clear protocols for data collection, use of samples, input into databases, publication and dissemination of scientific outcomes. • Key performance indicators need to be agreed with the regulators so that objectives of monitoring are clear. Background to the Study There are a significant number CO2 injection sites around the world of varying size, all of which could provide useful learning experiences for anyone attempting their first test injection. Many projects will have gone through project planning, risk assessment, permitting processing etc; the learnings of which may be useful for future projects. The purpose of this study is to document experience of the development of CO2 injection projects in order for countries looking to embark on their first CO2 test injection to refer to. This first test injection is considered to be in the order of 10,000 t CO2 per year. They will then be able to refer to the experience and lessons learned through the development and operation of CO2 test injection projects elsewhere in the world. The initial stages of any injection project will be a desk based assessment and initial site selection, followed by exploration and detailed site characterisation, obtaining permitting for injections and setting out a monitoring plan. Every storage site will have gone through various stages and processes before injection can start. These will differ depending on the size, location, local regulations and the geology of the site. However, the processes, if not the details may be common amongst all sites, including site characterisation and license permitting (though regulations will vary throughout regions). Many CO2 demonstration sites have been the first of their kind and regulations and permitting have developed alongside the project. For a country hoping to start their first injection it would be useful to be able to access one document that outlined the whole process with a timeline and pointed to relevant sources of information. There are several best practice documents and guidelines available; these vary in scope and technical detail. A number of non-site specific best practice guides have been produced, such as NETL’s risk assessment and site selection manuals and WRI’s CCS guidelines that outline the entire process. There are also best practice guidelines considering learnings taken from particular projects, such as the SACS, best practice for the storage of CO2 in saline aquifers, which uses, amongst others, learnings from the Sleipner storage site in the North Sea. Other examples of best practice guides are the QUALSTORE best practice guide and the EU Guidance documents. There are several documents outlining issues regarding public communication including guidelines from NETL and WRI. The Global CCS Institute recently commissioned CO2CRC to produce a summary of best practice guides, including a summary of the varying areas of coverage and technical detail. The document is publically available on their website: http://www.globalccsinstitute.com/publications/review-existing- best-practice-manuals-carbon-dioxide-storage-and-regulation. CO2CRC, a consortium based in Australia was commissioned by IEAGHG to undertake a study compiling learnings from test injections. Scope of Work This study does not intend to redo work already carried out, but to produce an over-arching document, which follows the process of setting up a test injection. This document would identify gaps in best practice guides as well as point readers towards available information. The document produced would order the steps and processes that the user would need to go through during the management of the test injection; from scoping of the project (including success criteria), site selection, planning, injection and closure. Many of the steps will happen simultaneously, but an order can still be established along with an expected timeline. This would be broad enough to allow for different permitting and legal processes in different countries as well as different site specific technical issues. The study was suggested to be carried out in 4 parts; The first part will be the identification of test injection projects. To date there has been a significant number of CO2 test injection projects conducted around the world including: Frio, Otway, Ketzin, Nagaoka, as well as a significant number of US Regional Partnerships Phase II projects. Each of these projects would have to have gone through significant planning and development before entering into operation. The projects identified should have relevance to pre-commercial CO2 test injections and pilot projects in the order of 10,000 t CO2 per year. The second part will be the identification of key development issues. For each project identified it would be valuable to document development information around project scoping, development of success criteria, project planning, planning a monitoring program, site selection, risk assessment, public engagement, legal and regulatory requirements, permitting, scheduling, costs, funding, staffing, skills required, management processes, reporting, reviewing and any unexpected hurdles and their solutions. The third part will be looking at trend analysis. Once information is gathered, trends across projects could be analysed identifying what processes are common across projects and when and why processes may differ. The fourth part will be the development of a test injection manual or best practice guide. Once information from existing projects has been gathered and trends analysed, a CO2 test injection development manual could be produced. This will be an overarching document with all the steps needed in the process of setting up a test injection. A follow-up of this work is the possibility of producing a webtool, whereby users will be able to enter information they have and be able to access the appropriate parts of the guide as well