Peter Livanos’ CO2 carrier and terminals venture EcoLog has teamed up with a group of companies aiming to create a carbon capture and transport hub 7CO2 in the UK’s southwest that would use shipping to connect to offshore geological storage sites.
The new cluster 7CO2 — which dubs itself The Severnside Carbon Capture and Shipping Hub — announced on Tuesday that its partners have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the technical and commercial feasibility of the project.
The 7CO2 hub would be set up in Avonmouth Dock at The Port of Bristol on the River Severn on the UK’s southwest coast.
CO2 would be sent to the hub by rail and pipeline. It would then be shipped offshore to be stored in the geological formations.
EcoLog, which wants to build out liquefied CO2 terminals and a fleet of owned LCO2 carriers, and some of the other partners like the engineering firms and sequesterer Storegga have been part of the group for some time.
7CO2 references “Non Pipeline Transport of CO2” — a concept phrase used by the UK government meaning that there is no pipeline directly from the emitter to the sequestration site with shipping being used for this leg.
The group said the South West of England is an important centre for key industries such as power, waste, cement, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defence, with businesses in and around the region emitting over 8 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.
- 7CO2
- The Bristol Port Co
- Viridor
- Suez
- Enfinium
- Seabank Powearme
- Ecolog
- Storegga
- Acorn
It added: “With clear Government support for non pipeline transport, many of our projects could capture CO2 by 2030, contributing significantly to government targets and improving the value for money of government’s support for CO2 stores such as Acorn.”
The cluster’s director Paul Davies said, “Carbon capture offers the opportunity for businesses across the UK to decarbonise if we invest in the infrastructure to transport CO2 to geological storage.
“This MOU between partners all the way through the value chain shows our commitment to develop Non Pipeline Transport of CO2 at pace, both technically and commercially, ready for the first projects to start operations as soon as possible and in line with Government’s ambitions.”
This month the UK government announced plans to invest £22bn ($28.5bn) in subsidies to fund carbon capture projects around the country focusing initially on two areas Merseyside and Teesside.
But industry participants in this emerging sector said, while the UK government is making progress, it still needs to devise the guidance on how they will support NPT clusters.
The 7CO2 partners said close cooperation with regional emitters and wider green energy investors. They plan further talks further talks with emitters and supply chain partners as they develop their proposals.
