Because of growing interest in using offshore saline reservoirs in the Gulf of America for geologic carbon storage (GCS), NETL has developed a cost modeling tool that enables users to secure an accurate technoeconomic analysis of GCS possibilities in offshore areas.

Offshore saline reservoirs are porous and permeable rock formations that contain saline fluid and can store carbon dioxide (CO₂). As offshore GCS accelerates around the world, determining technical feasibility and viability is the first barrier to pass in bringing additional offshore GCS online. NETL’s objective was to create a tool to determine technoeconomic feasibility that uses cost modeling and analysis.

The resulting CO2_S_COM_Offshore tool is available here. It comprehensively incorporates multiple facets of offshore GCS projects, from regional evaluation and site selection to permitting, transport, operations, monitoring, site closure and decommissioning. By providing comparative cost information, decision makers can evaluate offshore GCS on a project-by-project basis.

“The model can explore the cost implications for potential offshore GCS projects by enabling the user to change several project operational and financial attribute configurations,” NETL’s MacKenzie Mark-Moser said. “Key inputs include offshore storage formation options, CO₂ injection rate and duration, infrastructure types, monitoring intensity, project financing, and post-injection site care duration.”

She explained that CO2_S_COM_Offshore is a first-of-a-kind analytical resource for evaluating carbon storage costs in offshore settings. The tool enables potential sites to be screened using first-year break-even costs of offshore carbon storage per ton. It uses cost algorithms that were developed along with cost estimation software and a variety of open-source scientific literature.

“Significant storage resources exist in federal waters offshore in the Gulf of America,” Mark-Moser told an audience at the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) North American Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Dozens of sites are being characterized, and there are six projects in development in state waters.”

CO2_S_COM_Offshore takes into consideration distinct approaches to offshore operations compared to onshore carbon storage such as: the water column, expenses involved with floating platforms and submersible equipment, and federal regulations.

According to Mark-Moser, the tool is designed to be adaptable and evolve as the carbon storage industry advances and new regulations are enacted. CO2_S_COM_Offshore joins NETL’s suite of technoeconomic energy analysis tools.

NETL is a DOE national laboratory dedicated to advancing the nation’s energy future by creating innovative solutions that strengthen the security, affordability and reliability of energy systems and natural resources. With laboratories in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, NETL creates advanced energy technologies that support DOE’s mission while fostering collaborations that will lead to a resilient and abundant energy future for the nation.