Nine projects have been selected in the USA for a total of $242 million in funding to support the development of new and expanded large-scale, commercial carbon storage projects with capacities to securely store 50 or more million metric tons (Mt) of CO2.

These round 1 projects will focus on the detailed site characterisation, planning and permitting stages of project development under Phase III of the US DOE Fossil Energy and Carbon Management- Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative. The 9 projects are a follows: 

Bluebonnet Sequestration Project – Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub (Houston, Texas) plans to complete the site characterization, front-end engineering design, permitting and environmental approvals required to achieve construction readiness for the Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub. The project will demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of a large-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration hub for permanent storage of captured CO2 in a deep geologic formation. Development of the project from its current state to construction and commercial operation will enable capture and sequestration of 8 MtCO2/y for a 15-year period, with the potential for future expansion up to 26 million Mt per year and more than 350 million Mt total storage capacity.

DOE Funding: $16.5m

Total Value: $21.6m
  

Lone Star Storage Hub Project – BP Corporation North America intends to advance a carbon capture and storage project in Texas that will enable low-carbon hydrogen production at third-party facilities. The development will also support the storage of CO2 captured from other industrial facilities, helping to accelerate decarbonisation of the Texas Gulf Coast industrial corridor. The Lone Star Storage Hub will include two CO2 storage sites interconnected by pipeline infrastructure and could ultimately store up to 15 MtCO2/y. The project intends to research and deploy technologies that enable the safe and cost-effective appraisal, operation and monitoring of CO2 storage facilities. BP also aims to help develop a skilled and well-qualified workforce and support the free and fair chance to form and join labor unions and bargain collectively; deliver diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility that brings value to the economy and builds diverse capability for the industry and our communities; identify actions to reduce impacts and increase benefits to local communities, incorporating input from community partners and; engage stakeholders to understand what they expect and to help address complex challenges.

DOE Funding: $33.4m
Total Value: $68.5m
  

CarbonSAFE Eos: Developing Commercial Sequestration for Southern Colorado – Colorado School of Mines (Golden, Colorado) plans to develop a regional geologic CO2 sequestration hub to address emissions from diverse sources including cement, hydrogen and power in the near term and create opportunities for long-term economic benefit. The scope of the project includes collecting seismic data and drilling stratigraphic test wells to characterise primary and secondary target reservoirs, which will be incorporated into multiple Class VI well permits. The team plans to develop two-way stakeholder engagement that will help identify and manage the project’s impacts while being mindful of the industrial heritage and economic and environmental disadvantages of Pueblo, Colorado.

DOE Funding: $32.7m
Total Value: $40.8m
  

Magnolia Sequestration Project – Magnolia Sequestration Hub (Houston, Texas) intends to complete the site characterisation, FEED, permitting, and environmental approvals required to achieve construction readiness for the Magnolia Sequestration Hub. The project will demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of a large-scale CO2 sequestration hub for permanent storage of CO2 captured from industrial emitters and potentially multiple direct air capture facilities. Development of the project from its current state to construction and commercial operation will enable capture and sequestration of 4 MtCO2/y for a 15-year period with potential for expansion to 10 MtCO2/y or more from industrial emitters and direct air capture facilities.

DOE Funding: $21.6m
Total Value: $27.0m
  

Longleaf CCS – Southern States Energy Board (Peachtree Corners, Georgia) plans to significantly reduce the carbon emissions of South Alabama through the development of a stacked storage hub near Bucks, Alabama by completing relevant permitting, characterisation and National Environmental Policy Act efforts. The project team has secured commitments from four separate CO2 emitters in the region representing a variety of industries. In aggregate, these commitments total up to 2.6MtCO2/y emissions, or 78 million MtCO2 over 30 years. Primary target storage reservoirs include the Lower Cretaceous Paluxy Formation, the Lower Cretaceous Washita-Fredericksburg Interval and the Upper Cretaceous Lower Tuscaloosa Massive sand. Preliminary numerical modeling of the three target storage reservoirs indicates an estimated storage capacity of between 188 million and 781 million Mt of CO2.

DOE Funding: $18.0m
Total Value: $23.9m
  

Timberlands Sequestration Project – Timberlands Sequestration, LLC (Houston, Texas) intends to develop a biomass carbon removal and storage project for the Alabama River Cellulose (ARC) pulp and paper mill located in Monroe County, Alabama. The project will be designed to capture approximately 2 Mt/y for 30 years from the mill’s flue gas and inject the CO2 underground in deep saline aquifers for permanent storage. The project is planned to comprise a carbon capture plant located near the ARC mill, a 0.3 mile pipeline that will transport CO2 from the capture plant to the injection well, a Class VI well for CO2 injection into saline. Because substantially all the mill’s fuel source and all its feedstock are sustainably harvested timber product, the project is designed to make operations at the ARC mill net carbon negative.

DOE Funding: $23.8m
Total Value: $29.7m
  

Illinois Basin West CarbonSAFE – University of Illinois (Champaign, Illinois) plans to geologically characterise the Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone/Eau Claire Formation storage complex near the City Water, Light, and Power Dallman Power Generation Plant in Springfield, Illinois, for safe, permanent storage of more than 50 MtCO2 over a 30 year period and to submit a UIC Class VI permit to construct application. The project team also plans to:

•   acquire and analyse site-specific data sufficient to develop defendable geological and numerical models to predict site performance
•   conduct a risk assessment to identify technical and non-technical project risks and to develop mitigation strategy
•   examine and address potential environmental justice issues related to the project, and identify stakeholders to develop an engagement strategy that incorporates public input and ensures that disadvantaged communities have meaningful input
•   assess the technical and economic feasibility of the carbon capture and storage project at the Illinois Basin West site. 

DOE Funding: $17.7m
Total Value: $22.1m
  

Coal Creek Carbon Capture: Site Characterisation and Permitting – University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (Grand Forks, North Dakota) intends to characterize and permit a geologic CO2 storage hub in central North Dakota to store up to 200 million MtCO2. The proposed storage hub will aggregate CO2 captured from the Coal Creek Station power plant and will advance the development of carbon capture and storage at Coal Creek, which will reduce 95% of the CO2 emissions from the plant, representing a 19% reduction of CO2 from North Dakota’s stationary sources.

DOE Funding: $38.1m
Total Value: $47.7

CarbonSAFE Phase III: Sweetwater Carbon Storage (SCS) HUB – University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyoming) plans to advance a commercial, multi-source, large-scale carbon capture and storage project. This project will capture and store at least 50 MtCO2 in the first 30 years of operation. The project team intends to sequester carbon from two sources that are not associated with the energy industry. The project has the potential to provide permanent carbon sequestration for the entire U.S. trona industry, a critical national industry that supplies 90% of the world’s soda ash and represents the State’s largest international export. Soda ash is the second largest mining industry in Wyoming behind coal.

DOE Funding: $40.5m
Total Value: $50.6m

The DOE also announced the re-opening of the $2.25 billion Carbon Storage Validation and Testing funding opportunity announcement. The funding opportunity has been modified to accept applications under a broader scope, including storage complex feasibility in addition to the site characterization, permitting, and construction stages of project development.

The DOE expects to make 20-70 awards with a minimum of a 20-50% cost-sharing from the awardees.