FAQs
Frequently asked questions
CCS globally
What regulation is in place at a European level to ensure safety across Europe?
The EU CCS Directive regulates both the exploration of storage sites and the storage of CO2 within Europe. The Directive ensures that geological formations will only be licensed for CO2 storage if there is “no significant risk of leakage” and it places considerable emphasis on selecting, characterising, risk-assessing and monitoring of storage sites to ensure permanent storage of CO2. A form of financial security is also required from operators at the outset.
How many CCS plants are there in operation globally? How much CO2 are these plants capturing?
CCS plants are operational today. There are currently 4 operational commercial-scale CCS plants globally:
1. Sleipner is in the North Sea, about 160 miles west of Stavanger, Norway: operational since 1996 and injecting over 1 million tonnes of CO2 annually
2. Weyburn is in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada: operational since 2005 and injecting 26 million tonnes over the lifetime of the project
3. In Salah is in central Algeria: operational since 2004 and injecting over 1 millions tonnes of CO2 annually
4. The Snøvit plant in northern Norway: operational since 2008 and, at full production, the plant has a capture and storage capacity of 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
