Source: BusinessGreen

A database of the UK’s offshore carbon dioxide storage capacity that is said to be the first system of its kind anywhere in the world is set to go live in early 2013.

The database will contain geological data, storage estimates, risk assessments and economics of nearly 600 potential CO2 storage units of depleted oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers around the UK.

It is designed to help accelerate the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the UK and manage the construction of future infrastructure.

The database is the result of a £3.8m UK CO2 Storage Appraisal project conducted by the government and industry-backed Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). The Crown Estate, which owns the CO2 storage rights on the UK continental shelf and the British Geological Survey, will together provide a further £1m over five years to develop the content of the database and to provide users with a dedicated hosting service.

Andrew Green, CCS programme manager at the ETI, said the database could help CCS achieve its “huge potential” to be a core part of the UK’s energy mix.

“The aim of this project has been to provide a more accurate picture of how much storage space is practically available around the UK shores,” he said. “Whilst a lot of focus is currently on the build and demonstration of CCS plant, the availability of sufficient high-quality storage capacity is crucial to the large scale rollout of CCS in the UK.”

The government has repeatedly stated its support for CCS, but some investors have decried what they see as mixed messages. While four projects were last month shortlisted for the government’s £1bn CCS commercialisation competition, ministers have faced accusations they denied these same projects a share of €600m of EU funds by failing to provide the financial reassurances demanded by the European Commission.

Shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex also claimed to have unearthed documents detailing that only £200m of the £1bn would be made available in the current spending review period, which runs to 2015. The Department for Energy and Climate Change had not responded to a request for comment at time of going to press.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons Liaison Committee the government’s plans for a new wave of gas investments will only meet its mandatory carbon budgets if CCS projects are up and running over the coming decade. However, critics said plants are unlikely to be in place without a significant acceleration of the government’s CCS strategy.