The bill on carbon capture and storage is back with 3 key changes

Prinos offshore facility

The greek government is eyeing the Recovery Fund deadlines and in the face of the existing risk of derailing the planning for the carbon capture and storage market, is picking up speed, and is reportedly preparing to put the bill for the new institutional framework out for consultation.

The framework for the licensing, development and operation of these investments is said to be ready at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and, according to the same sources, includes three basic changes compared to the draft of last February, which had made the market talk about a rather bureaucratic and problematic system.

The first point that changes in the new text is that there will be far fewer "steps" for investors at all stages of carbon dioxide capture, use, transport and storage, i.e. the entire Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain.

The then plan required at least 22 regulatory acts, which involved a multitude of Authorities and bodies and covered crucial issues, from pricing and capacity allocation to financial guarantees. The “steps” from licensing to the operation of such an investment are said to provide for a much smaller number of decisions and authorizations.

Capacity through tenders and allocation criteria

The second element that appears to be changing in the bill concerns the provision that only 50% of the storage infrastructure capacity in Prinos will be allocated through competitive procedures based on the results of the market test. The draft at the time stated that the remaining capacity will be allocated by decision of the Minister of Environment and Energy, without specifying the criteria.

According to the information, the percentage of capacity that will be distributed through tenders is increasing to a logic of e.g. 60% through tenders and 40% through the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure. In practice, this means that of the 2.8 million tons per year that will be the capacity of the underground CO2 storage facility of Prinos in the first phase, e.g. 1.6 -1.7 million will be distributed through tenders to interested users, i.e. the emitters. The cement factories Hercules and Titan, Motor Oil and later Helleniq Energy, which are launching CO2 capture plants, totaling 1.5 billion euros with the destination of their storage in Prinos.

The major question here, is another. Whether the distribution criteria will be horizontal, i.e. the same for everyone, or whether the capacity of Prinos will be distributed proportionally to the emissions emitted by each industry. In this second scenario, it is obvious that the players with the largest CO2 emissions will "capture" the capacity of 2.8 million tons, and some others will be left out, with all that this implies for the reactions that will follow.

Specific timelines for the "steps"

The third and very serious issue concerns the very timetables of the Recovery Fund that co-finances "Prinos CO2" and the need not to lose resources from the Innovation Fund which finances three of the emblematic projects of the Greek CCS chain, and soon possibly a fourth.

The "Olympus" plant of Hercules in Milaki, Aliveri (400 million euros, for a commitment of 1 million tons, the "Ifestos" of Titan in Kamari, Viotia (584 million euros for 1.5 million tons), and the IRIS of Motor Oil in Aghios Theodoroi (211 million euros for 500,000 tons), while in this year's list of projects that will be included in the Innovation Fund and is expected to be announced in October, DESFA's "Apollo CO2" (500 million euros) aspires to be included.

The plan to transport the bound carbon dioxide through pipelines from all emitters to a special liquefaction unit in Revithoussa, from where it will be transshipped onto ships bound for Prinos.

In this direction, the new institutional framework will, according to information, provide specific timetables for each of the "steps" concerning the licensing, development and operation of these investments, in order to contribute to the critical challenge of the timing of the above investments.

This means that when, for example, "Olympus" is ready in 2029 - for which the Heracles group is expected to make the final investment decision in the third quarter of 2026 - the second phase of the CO2 storage project in Prinos, which will have a total capacity of 3 million tons, will be in the final stage of construction. There, the quantity of 1 million tons from Evia will be transported and stored.

The concern of people in the field that there is no time to waste was reiterated by representatives of the field at the recent 8th Infrastructure-Transport Conference, however, the pending issues for this specific market to move forward do not end with the new institutional framework.

In the case of "Prinos CO2", the decision to approve the environmental conditions for the first phase of the project is awaited, as well as the issuance by HEREMA of the storage permit for the facility, while in the case of the more mature CO2 capture plant ("Olympus"), Heracles, is running researches along the entire supply chain.

Such is the study for the construction of a new pier, while at the same time the group is coordinating with DNV in order to proceed with an international tender for the supply of a ship that will load the CCS to the storage areas. 

source: energypress.gr