APPENDIX 12
Memorandum from Renew Tees Valley Ltd
1. Renew Tees Valley Ltd is a company limited
by guarantee working for the Tees Valley to stimulate jobs and
economic development through the medium of sustainable technologies
and renewable energy. To achieve this we have a staff of technology
specialists and work closely with industry and academe to bring
forward projects to be sited in the Tees Valley.
2. In this case we are working with Progressive
Energy Ltd and others to develop a Carbon Capture and Storage
power station in the Tees Valley. This is a centre for power generation
and chemical industries and a natural home for such developments
as well as being on the NE coast well placed for linking to the
oil fields for Enhanced Oil Recovery.
3. The Teesside IGCC (Integrated Gasification
Combined Cycle) power station is sized at 850MWe, will produce
6 TWh pa and is designed to capture 5Mte pa of CO2. The cost attributable
to CO2 is ~£10/te for CO2 at a pressure of 110bar.
4. The project will need the following:
(a) Viable technologies for power generation
and carbon capture.
(b) Viable technologies and legal structure for
injecting CO2 into oilfields for EOR long term storagec. A pipeline
structure for collecting CO2 from the CCS power station and other
point sources and transporting it to the oilfields.
5. IGCC technology captures CO2 at a price
comparable to any renewable technology while providing similar
low carbon performance. It has however the advantage that it is
a direct replacement for the coal stations and nuclear stations
due to be decommissioned.
6. This design of station will also integrate
well into the existing electricity grid without large scale restructuring.
7. The IGCC technology is already existing
and consists of the following elements:
(a) A Gasifier that can successfully produce
fuel gas from coal heavy oil residues or other carbon source.
(b) An air separation unit to provide oxygen
for the above.
(c) A shift reactor to convert the above
fuel gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
(d) A wash system to remove sulphur compounds
and carbon dioxide.
(e) A pipeline to carry away the CO2 for
long-term storage.
All of this equipment can be seen operating
at a commercial scale and is available from manufacturers with
normal performance guarantees and warranties.
8. Hence the answer to the question what
is the projected timescale for producing market ready scalable
technologies is "Now" as far as the carbon capture is
concerned. However there are real implementation challenges associated
with securing the finance for the plant, particularly associated
with the current lack of long-term bankability of emissions trading
benefits.
9. It has been agreed that the injected
CO2 will remain in geological structures for geological timescales.
This is analogous to the retention of oil and gas in naturally
occurring reservoirs before normal commercial exploitation. It
is also agreed under OSPAR and the London agreements that Enhanced
Oil Recovery as proposed is also legal.
10. Such long-term storage is available
under the North Sea. The storage in the UK sector alone would
allow coal fired generation equivalent to 25% of current UK generation
to be operated for 200 years and the CO2 put into long-term storage.
11. Worldwide the technology for CO2 capture
from gas or oil facilities and transport by pipeline is now accepted.
More than 25Mte pa of CO2 is already injected into geological
storage. For example:
(a) Sleipner. Since 1996 1Mte pa of CO2 extracted
from a nearby gas field has been injected into a saline aquifer
in the North Sea. Its subsequent behaviour has been monitored
and successfully modelled.
(b) USA; CO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery
has been taking place regularly in Texas oil fields for over 20
years.
12. Hence Carbon Capture and Storage technology
and in particular the Tees Valley IGCC Power Station is going
ahead but would still benefit from the support of this Select
Committee. The advantages are
(a) An immediately deliverable low carbon
power source to help Britain deliver on its Kyoto commitments.
(b) A technology transferable to China and
India to allow their development based on coal without the consequent
carbon emissions from traditional power stations.
(c) Exportable technologies and services
which will help our balance of payments.
(d) A stimulus to UK manufacturing and large
scale projects industries.
(e) An extension of up to 20 years for UK
oil production with the consequent Treasury revenues and stimulation
to the economy.
(f) An extension to the use of British coal
with security of supply and trade balance benefits.
September 2005
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