Bridge Energies is considering launching into CO2 storage on its oil field, located around Nonville (Seine-et-Marne). The project plans to inject and permanently store carbon dioxide in the hydrocarbon reservoir from one or more injection wells. In total, the storage capacity targeted by the oil company is between 100,000 and 300,000 tonnes per year, with commissioning expected from 2030. Pending validation by the State, the project was submitted to a call for expressions of interest launched in April by Roland Lescure, the resigning Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy.
In detail, a first well would enter the test phase from 2026 and 2027, for a period of one to three years. The development of a commercial unit – for two to four years – would then allow the oil company to inject the CO2 emitted by sugar factories, cement plants or fertilizer manufacturers located a few dozen kilometers around the site. The oil exploitation of the Ile-de-France field – of which only one oil well is currently in production – must continue in parallel. Oil production from the site must cease in 2040, the legal date for the end of hydrocarbon exploitation in France.
Technical challenges
«Among the possible scenarios for the Nonville concession, it is envisaged to convert wells already drilled and unused into CO2 injection wells. It is also possible to drill a new well dedicated to CO2 injection.says Steve Coulom, sales manager at Vedra Hydrogen, consultant to Bridge Energies.
In the case of converting a production well into an injection well, the oil company must, among other things, prevent any leakage of carbon dioxide from the surface to the injection point located 1,500 meters underground. Among the solutions considered, it could reinforce the inner casing of the well by installing a new tube, manufactured with a suitable metallurgy or an epoxy-type coating. The solution would also prevent corrosion of the tube. The oil company must also install CO2 sensors at the point where the well meets the surface.
Four or five sites in France for testing from 2025
As carbon dioxide storage sites multiply in the North Sea, the French government is trying to equip the territory with its first dedicated wells. In total, four or five carbon dioxide sequestration test projects in old oil fields could benefit from envelopes of 20 to 30 million euros, as part of the France 2030 program, for initial tests starting in 2025.
“In France, the potential of existing hydrocarbon concessions is estimated at around 800 million tonnes of CO2, which would cover 50 years of the CO2 storage needs of French industry in the long term,” the Ministry of the Economy indicated in a press release in April.
In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights that carbon capture and storage solutions alone are not enough to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. According to the rapporteurs, these projects must, in parallel, be accompanied by a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
