Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway — Equinor and France’s main gas transmission operator GRTgaz have signed a development agreement for a CO2 transport system. This will take CO2 from industrial emitters in France for permanent storage in various subsurface sites offshore Norway via the planned CO2 Highway Europe pipeline system.
It involves constructing a network of onshore CO2 pipelines, to be developed by GRTGaz, which will connect the industrial area in France’s far north and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to a new CO2 pipeline in the North Sea.
The Dunkirk industrial area is said to account for about 20% of France’s industrial CO2 emissions.
GRTgaz will build a 30-km onshore pipeline network in the region, and a compressor station in Dunkirk will send the CO2 into the offshore pipeline connecting to the CO2 Highway Europe.
During the initial phase, the capacity will be 3 MMmt/year to 5.5 MMmt/year of CO2. This may be expanded to accommodate CO2 capture at other industrial clusters in France.
Equinor and GRTgaz will co-operate in the development of their CO2 transmission and storage infrastructures and associated services: network planning, technical design and industrial safety, interoperability, regulatory aspects and institutional relations.
Presently feasibility studies are underway, with basic engineering studies set to start at the end of 2024 and commissioning in 2029.
06.18.2024
