Development

Carbon Dioxide Sequestration

NAPG's Two Elk Energy Park is one of ten locations selected and co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy for large-scale commercial CO₂ sequestration from power and industrial sources. The following is scheduled to be completed by 2013.

Carbon Sequestration Site Characterization Studies will:

• Determine the injectivity of formations that could accommodate large quantities of CO₂ (~3MT/yr and 150 MT/yr over 50 years)
• Demonstrate the technical feasibility of multi-zone “stacked” carbon storage in depleted oil fields, unmineable coal seams and saline formations
• Assess seal integrity to identify those units that are capable of retaining CO₂ for millennia and assess the rate of CO₂ dissolution
• Assess the rate and extent of geochemical reactions that could permanently trap CO₂ as minerals or through absorption and evaluate potential leakage pathways
• Identify if and which methods for managing injection pressure buildup and brine management would be needed and beneficial approaches for managing produced fluid. Measurement, monitoring and verification practices and plans will be in place at the conclusion.

The Project also will:

• Define assessment requirements for sites in regionally significant formations;
• Provide methodologies to assess the region’s potential to sequester CO₂ from approximately 2 GW of existing regional coal-fired power generation;
• Promote commercialization of carbon projects; and
• Establish best practices and risk mitigation strategies for preliminary characterization studies for commercial CCS deployment.

The Two Elk Energy Park is located above or in close proximity to three options for CO₂ sequestration that have been identified by the BSCSP and included in the DOE’s Carbon Sequestration Atlas. These include up to 300 oil and gas reservoirs, vast coal-seams (and CBM gas resources) and saline aquifers. In addition to EOR, site characterization will allow the development of coal-seam and saline aquifer sequestration solutions.

Expected Results

The Project will be carried out in three phases. During Phase I, geological and hydrological information will be synthesized, including reprocessing seismic data from the immediate vicinity of the Energy Park. Preliminary flow and transport models based on this data will be used to refine capacity estimates and identify high priority geological targets at the test well site.

Phase II will include well drilling, logging and testing. Site specific models will be used to determine injectivity, pressure buildup, seal integrity, groundwater impacts and geomechanical strength of formation and seals. Phase III will integrate information gathered in Phases I and II into a comprehensive capacity assessment, injectivity and groundwater impacts assessment, risk assessment and risk management approach for this region. Data will be incorporated into national databases and partnerships. A best practices manual that describes approaches to characterization studies to promote commercialization of CCS will be produced at the end of the Project.