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The Norwegian National Government promised that a full scale capture plant at Kårstø should be built and financed by the Norwegian state as soon as possible in 2005. It is later postponed, and is now beeing reconsidered due to irregular operation pattern at the power plant. The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) decided to authorise state funding to Gassnova SF (March 2009) in order to cover the costs of establishing the CCS project for 10 years. The plant will need to be retrofitted with a capture facility that will be ten times as large as the largest existing plant for separation of CO2 from gas turbine exhaust. Annual operating costs assuming 8000 hours of operation are estimated to be NOK 370 million (US$64 million), leading to a cost of NOK 700 (US $121) per tonne of CO2 abated. CO2 maybe provided for EOR in Statoil Volve Field.

Facts:

In 2006, the Government began planning of a facility for full-scale CO2 capture from Naturkraft’s gas-fired power plant at Kårstø, as well as a solution for transportation and secure storage of CO2. Since then, a significant amount of preparatory work has been done, on all aspects of construction of the full-scale CCS facility.

The backdrop of the CCS project at Kårstø is to reduce emissions from one of Norway’s largest sources of CO2. Naturkraft’s gas-fired power plant at Kårstø was commissioned the 14th of December 2007. It has an annual production capacity of up to 3.5 TWh, with CO2 emissions of approximately 1.2 million tons of CO2 per year at full production without carbon capture and storage. Since it was commissioned, the gas-fired power plant has had an irregular operational pattern. The power plant has been out of operation for extensive periods, resulting in reduced CO2 emissions in comparison to a facility in continuous operation. Irregular operation of the power plant in the years to come will limit the environmental benefit of a CO2 capture facility.

The Norwegian Government has therefore decided to halt the procurement process for the assignment of contracts to construct the CO2 capture and storage (CCS) facility at Kårstø, until the gas-fired power plant’s operational pattern becomes clearer or other solutions that ensure regularity of production and emissions of CO2 from the power plant become evident. At the same time, the Government will consider an integration of energy systems between the power plant and the gas processing facility at Kårstø, which may contribute to a reduction of total emissions.

The goal for the work on CCS at Kårstø is to reduce emissions from one of Norway’s largest sources of CO2. An integration of energy systems at Kårstø involves the usage of electricity and heat from the gas-fired power plant at the gas processing facility, thereby replacing existing gas-fired compressors and boilers. The Government will consider technical and commercial aspects of an integration of this type. The results of this will be an important contribution to further work on CCS at Kårstø.  

In march 2010 Gassco and Gassnova presented an Kårstø Integration pre-feasibility study. The objective of this Kårstø Integration Pre-feasibility Study was to describe potential integration opportunities at Kårstø including technical, environmental, safety, commercial issues and arrangements.

Timing:

Original timing: Powerplant opened Nov 2007, electricity production without carbon capture and storage (2007), investment decision (2008), and commissioning (2011-2012). Delayed 2009.

Other Sources and Press Release:

• ESA approved CCS project at Kårstø (March 2009) 
• Naturkraft’s opens November 2007
• Naturkraft Karsto expected to come on stream end 2007 Electricity profile
• Power technology’s overview on 420 MW Karsto power plant
• Technical, economic and scheduling aspects of a CCS facility at Kårstø [PDF] (Dec 2006) 
• Building new power plants in a CO2 constrained world: A Case Study from Norway on Gas-Fired Power Plants, Carbon Sequestration, and Politics [PDF] (May 2001)

• Gustav Amund Amundsen, (Gassnova, Vice President Projects)

News about Naturkraft Kårstø