Lacq field CCS project is France's first

June 5, 2009
Following 2 years of study and preparation, Total SA has received administrative authorization to start injecting carbon dioxide in France’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot project.

Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent

PARIS, June 5 -- Following 2 years of study and preparation, Total SA has received administrative authorization to start injecting carbon dioxide in France’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot project.

Injection into the nearly depleted Rousse reservoir at Lacq gas field in southwestern France is to start in late June and last 2 years.

CO2 will be captured from exhaust gases at one of five boilers at Lacq’s steam generating plant converted to an oxyfuel combustion unit, then compressed and sent via a 27-km pipeline for injection into the Rousse at a depth of 4,500 m.

The pilot plant will produce 40 tonnes/hr of steam, which will be used by industries in the Lacq complex. It will emit 120,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2 years.

The Rousse reservoir, a carbonate formation, will be closely monitored through detectors set throughout the surface and subsoil to measure the injection flow and the CO2 pressure, temperature, and concentration.

The €60 million pilot is being carried out in cooperation with Institut Francais du Petrole and Bureau de Recherche Geologique et Miniere (Mining and Geological Research Office).

Its purpose is threefold: to better master the oxyfuel combustion process, namely for applications in the production of extra-heavy oils; to halve the cost of carbon capture compared with existing processes; and to develop monitoring tools, techniques, and methods to establish that long-term and large-scale geological CO2 storage is viable.