Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facilities under development has grown 44% on year to 244 million tonnes per annum in the past 12 months, according to a new report from the Global CCS Institute.
As of September 2022, there are 196 projects in the CCS facilities pipeline, with 61 new CCS facilities added in 2022 alone. Globally, there are 30 CCS facilities in operation currently, which can capture and store around 43 million tonnes of CO2, the report said.
“In 2022, we’ve seen CCS becoming increasingly commercial and competitive in many countries. We expect to see more strategic partnerships and collaboration driving deployment, particularly through CCS networks,” Jarad Daniels, CEO, Global CCS Institute said during the launch.
However, “global efforts to reduce emissions, including investment in CCS, are still grossly inadequate,” he added.
To achieve net zero goals, CCS capacity must increase by more than 100-fold by 2050, the report added.
Driven by high-level policy decisions and international market expectations, carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is poised to take off in the Middle East and North Africa region in the coming decade, Jeff Erikson, General Manager for Client Engagement, Global CCS Institute said during the global launch of the report.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), net-zero commitments made by countries, and the region’s potential to take a significant share of the low-carbon hydrogen market and low carbon industrialisation plans are the key drivers, he said.
Currently, three facilities are in operation in the region capturing 3.7 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide equivalent to 10% of the global capture capacity.
“With the current international geopolitical situation, the growth in LNG exports from the different countries in the region presents an opportunity for low carbon fuels and CCS,” the report added.
The establishment of voluntary carbon markets and regulated carbon trading exchange and trading schemes in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt is expected to spur the carbon market in the region, benefitting all decarbonisation technologies, including CCS, the report noted.
The report stated that the MENA region aims to develop a fully integrated CCUS supply chain and shows a very high potential for CCUS hubs.
According to a recent study conducted by AFRY and GaffneyCline on behalf of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), these GCC countries have the potential to store 170 Gt of CO2.
The study has identified 10 promising hub locations with the most favourable being Jubail (Saudi Arabia), northern Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.