DNV evaluates the safety of Rotterdam’s expanding CO2 hub

Oslo: Risk management studies carried out by DNV will be crucial to the safety and public acceptance of the CO2 logistics hub being developed through the Rotterdam Climate Initiative. The project will involve port and offshore infrastructure development, along with a range of transportation solutions, which could eventually service many of north-western Europe’s greenhouse gas reduction initiatives.

The City of Rotterdam and their industry partners are involved in a range of innovative projects and pilot studies aimed at reducing local CO2 emissions to 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2025. Carbon capture and storage (CSS) is a key component of the strategies needed to achieve this goal as rather than being released to the atmosphere when both fossil and renewable carbon-based fuels are burnt, CO2 is captured and stored in a suitable geological reservoir.

Rotterdam hosts a significant number of CO2-producing power and process industries and has ready access to sites in the North Sea that are suitable for the geological storage of CO2.

So far CSS has only been undertaken at small scales and an end-to-end processing chain does not exist. A barrier to effective large-scale deployment is the current lack of a suitable regulatory framework, so in support of the growing demand for CSS technology worldwide, DNV initiated a number of joint industry research projects and subsequently released recommended practices for activities such as the qualification of CO2 capture technology, the selection of sites for geological storage and the design and operation of CO2 pipelines.

DNV’s involvement in Rotterdam will build on this knowledge to provide targeted safety studies for the development of the infrastructure that will enable large and small producers of CO2 to become part of an integrated logistics and storage system designed to simplify management and maximise cost effectiveness. The project brings together the entire CO2 activity chain including regulators, the power industry, process and piping specialists, shipping and offshore storage providers.

“With so many stakeholders and so much new technology, the challenges, like the rewards, will be great. Rotterdam continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to the environment and the future well-being of society and this innovative project will demonstrate to the world how a new, more responsible way of handling carbon-based fuels can fit into a positive energy future. DNV is likewise committed to demonstrating world’s best practice in making such paradigm shifts safely,” said Johan den Biggelaar, Country Chair for DNV in the Benelux.

Source: DNV

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