CCS Site Selection and Characterisation Criteria

Publication Overview

The I EA G reenhouse G as R &D P rogramme ( IEA GHG ) ha s recently co mmissioned the Alberta Research Council in Canada to conduct a review of storage site selection criteria and site ch aracterisation methods in o rder to produce a s ynthesis r eport. Among the va rious elements of the CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) chain, t he stage of storage site selection and characterisation is o f cr itical importance be cause any storage s ite m ust de monstrate that it satisfies three fundamental requirements: 1. capacity to store the intended volume of CO₂ 2. injectivity, to accept/take CO over the lifetime of the operation, 2 3. containment, to en sure t hat C O at the rate that it is supplied from the emitter(s), 2 will n ot m igrate an d/or leak out of t he s torage unit (safety and security of storage). This report reviews the literature on the subject on site selection and characterisation since the publication of the IPCC Special Report on CCS, and provides a synthesis and classification o f criteria.

Publication Summary

Sites s elected for C O2 storage s hould be pr operly c haracterised. S ite ch aracterisation is a continuous and iterative process that starts usually with existing data, particularly at the basin and/or regional scale, and proceeds with the acquisition of new data and information during all the stages of a CCS project relating to the site, namely: selection, evaluation, permitting, design and construction, o peration, cl osure an d post-closure. H owever, the m ajor e ffort an d expenditure o f resources occur in the early stages of site selection and permitting. The initial characterisation will be subsequently updated with data and information produced by new well drilling and from monitoring programmes. Sites s hould be c haracterised in terms of ge ology, r ock properties, hy drogeology a nd geothermics, fault and fracture characteristics – if present, in-situ conditions, composition and phase behaviour of the native fluids and the injected CO₂ stream, reservoir history in the case of hydrocarbon reservoirs, history of wells and their condition, and land features.