Grangemouth, Falkirk- Innovation challenges
The Grangemouth Industrial Complex comprises petrochemical refinery, chemicals industry hub and Scotland’s busiest port.
The CCU development action plan for Scotland, highlighted key opportunities for valorised CO2 as commodity chemicals, biofuels and niche products such as small-scale opportunities in the food, horticulture, feed and construction industries.
Falkirk Council is seeking partnerships with which to collaborate in the informing of the future CCU business case and to directly participate in development of its strategic direction.
- Generation of renewable energy and/or models for provision of green energy to Grangemouth for CCU activity.
- Hydrogen solutions and models for integrating hydrogen with CCU activity (at multi-megawatt scale).
- Solutions for direct uses of CO2 and uses of captured CO2 (including chemical, bio, horticultural).
- Ideas and models for infrastructure and service models required for collaborative CCU activity.
The opportunity is for companies to collaborate with Falkirk Council and partners, at this critical development stage of our Investment Zone Growth Deal business case to Scottish and UK Governments. We are keen to share experiences and knowledge of how we can take forward our CCU ambitions with our industry partners.
Acorn CCS- opportunities and challenges
The Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage Project is well progressed and currently midway through the completion of Front End Engineering Design (FEED) ahead of the Final Investment Decision in 2020. The first phase of Acorn will be operational in 2024 with the capacity to handle and sequester up to 2mtpa of CO2. Subsequent planned phases would see Acorn expand to handle 16mtpa of CO2. Most of the innovation / technical aspects of the project have already been resolved. As capacity increases Acorn plans to link captured CO2 to future utilisation points in Peterhead and Grangemouth Industrial Complex. For Acorn to secure ongoing development and increase CO2 handling capacity the key challenges are:
- Supply of CO2. The recent progress on resolving the London Protocol means that captured CO2 can now be supplied in bulk across the North Sea. A key aspect of Acorn is the importation of liquid CO2 via ship into Peterhead Port where it will be offloaded and piped to St Fergus, compressed further, piped offshore and then sequestered into the Acorn CO2 Storage Area. Thus, the Acorn project is looking for regional and industrial partners across Europe to capture and supply their CO2 initially for sequestration.
- Revenue Model. Upon successful completion of FEED, the Acorn project will need to secure further capital investment for the first phase of the project by the first quarter of 2021. To justify the required scale of investment, the business models (including financial mechanisms with Government) for industrial capture and CO2 transport and storage are needed. The Acorn project is working with relevant Government agencies to accomplish this in the right time frame, but would welcome ideas on financial models that could be applied.
- Collaboration Partners. To implement the company's ambitions Acorn requires to identify enterprises with interest in CO2 capture, and the road, pipeline and ship transportation of CO2. Alongside interest, innovative solutions and technology are sought, regarding both CO2 capture and CO2 transportation via the various channels.
