Carbon storage projects across Europe

Efforts to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industry and store them underground have gathered pace across Europe over the past few years as countries scramble to meet climate goals, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been also driven by rising EU carbon permit costs, which hit a record of 100 euros a ton in February.

Scientists have said CCS needs to be rapidly scaled up to help keep global average temperature rise under 2 degrees Celsius this century.

We remind, Equinor, awarded the exploration license in 2022, said it is looking at injecting the CO2 captured from its own hydrogen production, as well as some industrial customers in Europe. The company aims to make the final investment decision in 2025.

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China's Chambroad Petrochemicals is set to start operating a refining unit in the southern province of Hainan in May to produce mainly bitumen with an aim to export the material used to pave roads, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Chambroad is one of about 60 independent refineries in the refining hub of Shandong province, an industry facing mounting challenges from fuel oversupply, competition from new mega plants and increasing regulatory scrutiny.

Chambroad bought the Hainan facility for about USD218.5 MM in late 2021 from Shandong High-speed Group, a state-owned builder and operator of expressways, chairman Luan Bo told Reuters on Friday. The plant, which can process four million tons of feedstock annually, is in Hainan's Yangpu port. Beijing designated the island province as a free-trade zone in 2018.

The new facility will boost Chambroad's bitumen capacity from three million to five million tons annually, making it China's single largest producer of the material. Chambroad aims to take advantage of anticipated growth in demand as China expands infrastructure spending to spur its economy, with an eye also to exporting some of the bitumen to southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam, Luan said.

We remind, Beijing has since 2021 tightened crude imports by independent refiners, known as teapots, to rein-in swelling capacity that outpaces demand, forcing some plants to secure other feedstocks. The Yangpu plant is adjacent to oil storage and port facilities run by State Development and Investment Corp, as well as a refinery complex run by state refiner Sinopec Corp .

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Norway said it has awarded two licenses to explore for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage sites in the North Sea - one to Aker BP and a partner, and another to Germany's Wintershall Dea and its partner, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The North Sea has seen a rush to develop offshore CO2 storage sites over the past few years, supported by rising emission costs in Europe and as businesses seek to meet climate goals. It is the second time that Wintershall Dea has been awarded a CO2 storage license in Norway, while it is the first license for Norway's second-largest listed oil and gas firm Aker BP.

"We expect CCS to play a key role in the transition to a low-carbon energy future, and the Norwegian continental shelf holds significant potential for carbon storage," Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said in a statement. Aker BP, which has a 60% stake in the license called Poseidon, said the site could store more than 5 million tons of CO2 per year under the seabed.

The plan is to inject CO2 captured from multiple industrial sites in northwest Europe, including from Austrian plastics group Borealis. Borealis is majority owned by Austria's OMV, which will have a 40% stake in the license.

Wintershall Dea has partnered with Altera Infrastructure Group through its subsidiary Stella Maris CCS AS to explore for another CO2 storage site in the North Sea.

We remind, French strike action has led to record amounts of crude and condensate sitting idly offshore while the country's crude stocks have plummeted. Around 17 cargoes carrying crude oil, oil products or chemical products have been floating in French waters for the past week, according to Kpler crude analyst Johannes Rauball.

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Japan, the world's fifth-biggest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter, will begin a carbon pricing scheme in stages from April to encourage companies to curb emissions and achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The country is the latest among Asian nations to formulate plans to create a carbon pricing mechanism and emissions trading system. The plan is aimed at speeding up decarbonization to tackle climate change but Japan lags behind other major economies that have already implemented similar policies.

Still, Japan believes the scheme, which combines emissions trading and a carbon levy, will help to turn the world's third-largest economy greener while maintaining the global competitiveness of its industries, including heavy emitters like steelmakers.

As the private sector cannot make a stand-alone green investment commitment due to the high costs and risk, Europe and the United States have developed state support tools, said Shigeki Ohnuki, director of the environmental policy division at the ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI).

Japan also needs to make a commitment quickly to support green investment to incentivize companies to change their behavior, he said. The scheme, based on METI proposals and approved by the cabinet this year, consists of emissions trading and a carbon levy.

We remind, Japan's Renewable Energy Institute pointed to an estimated carbon price level of about one-tenth of the level of USD130 per ton that the International Energy Agency (IEA) says is required of developed countries, calling Japan's plan "too passive".

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Primoris Services Corporation (Primoris) announced that its OnQuest business, an equipment designer and manufacturer specializing in process fired heaters within its Energy segment, has been selected to supply a fractionator reboiler for Diamond Green Diesel’s (DGD) sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project at its Port Arthur, Texas plant adjacent to Valero’s refinery, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

DGD is a joint venture between Valero and Darling Ingredients Inc. The SAF project will take place at DGD’s new renewable diesel plant which came online ahead of schedule late last year.

“We’re thrilled to apply our decades of experience designing and supplying specialty furnaces to this landmark renewable fuel project,” said Jeremy Kinch, president of Primoris’ Energy division. “As DGD embarks on this important step to become a leader in SAF, we’re excited to serve as a collaborative partner focused on quality and safe execution. We’re extremely proud to work with our clients on innovative projects that contribute to a lower carbon future."

Upon project completion, the DGD Port Arthur plant will have the capability to upgrade approximately half of its current 470-million-gallon annual production capacity to SAF. Primoris’ scope of work encompasses the engineering, design, procurement, documentation, fabrication, inspection, testing, and preparation for the shipment of a SAF fractionator reboiler heater. The project is anticipated to be operational in 2025.

We remind, Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge plan to invest up to USD2.9 B to build a low-carbon blue ammonia production plant in Texas. Blue ammonia, rather than green ammonia derived from renewable energy, refers to ammonia produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct captured and stored. The plant, which would be Yara's biggest, would be built at an Enbridge oil storage and export facility near Corpus Christi, with production to start around 2027-28.

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