Oil and gas company StatoilHydro has submitted its plan for carbon capture at its Mongstad refinery to Norway’s ministry of petroleum and energy, and the ministry of the environment.
In connection with establishing the Mongstad energy project, StatoilHydro and the Norwegian government have entered into an implementation agreement. Under the agreement, StatoilHydro undertook to prepare an overall plan for future carbon capture at Mongstad, north of Bergen.
According to the oil company, the purpose of the master plan is to provide possible basis for the further process with full-scale carbon capture from the combined heat and power (CHP) station and other substantial sources at the refinery. In addition to the CHP station, the refinery’s cracker considered suitable for carbon capture.
The master plan describes two main alternatives as to how this can be done at Mongstad: alternative one allows carbon capture from the CHP station as quickly as possible based on the amine technology available, normal industry practice for safe and rational project performance and an acceptable HSE risk level. Alternative two allows simultaneous development of carbon capture from the CHP and the cracker, based on a stepwise technology development.
Einar Stromsvag, vice president of manufacturing at StatoilHydro, said: “The master plan addresses challenges and sums up issues associated with the technical feasibility of carbon capture at Mongstad. This is the first step along the way towards carbon capture at Mongstad. The project is still in an early stage and much work remains to be done.”
