The Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Søviknes is participating in the TCM event today, where the three owners sign an agreement on the continuation of the operation of TCM for another three years, and Total signs a MoU to enter into the partnership.
- TCM is a cornerstone in the government's strategy for CO2 management. We have now laid down a good foundation for further operations. I would like to congratulate Shell, Statoil and Gassnova with a job well done and wish Total welcome as a new owner, says MPE Terje Søviknes.
IPCC highlights carbon capture and storage (CCS), as a key tool in climate mitigation and their reports indicate that it is very difficult to achieve the climate targets adopted in Paris Agreement in 2015 without adopting CCS. TCM is working to make CCS a more efficient and more affordable climate solution.
- TCM has since its inauguration in 2012 paved the way for full-scale CCS projects by delivering important results that can provide safer and cheaper development of CO2 capture in Norway and the rest of the world. We are pleased that Statoil and Shell want to continue their involvement so that thisimportant work can continue, says CEO of Gassnova Trude Sundset.
The test activities on an industrial scale at TCM has qualified several companies to participate in full-scale CCS projects in Norway and internationally. Alstom (now GE), Aker Solutions, Cansolv and Carbon Clean Solutions (CCSL) have carried out extensive test campaigns at TCM. TCM has also established a close cooperation with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and in 2016, the American company ION Engineering started testing its technology at TCM with the support of DOE.
- Statoil currently has ongoing activities within CCS and in general, we want a close collaboration with government and industry partners to qualify CCS as an important climate tools. Further operation of TCM is an important place where we contribute with our expertise and broad experience, says Executive Director Irene Rummelhoff in Statoil.
- Shell emphasizes that the construction and test operations of TCM has played a very important role in uncovering areas for technology improvements that have helped to drive the cost of CCS down, and we see that such learning takes place in every test campaign. We believe that this will also be the case in the coming years and the continuation is therefore an important contribution to achieving the objectives of Shell's strategy within CCS. Shell wishes to play a key role in the continued operations of TCM, says Tor Arnesen, Managing Director of A / S Norwegian Shell.
- Total is taking steps to support the IEA’s 2°C scenario, in particular via CCUS*. We’re a pioneer in CCUS and we want to take it even farther. It’s a strategic investment for Total, because it meets our commitment to fight climate change in two ways: by building our expertise in CCUS* technologies and by reducing the carbon emissions of production facilities. We therefore feel it’s important to be involved in the project, the only industrial-scale one in Europe,” explains Philippe Baptiste, Total’s Chief Technology Officer. “Later this year, TCM will collaborate with i.e. SINTEF and other industry players on test campaigns to develop better solutions associated with CO2 capture using amine technology.
TCM continues its efforts to test new and potentially more effective capture technologies to prepare them for future developments of CCS projects. TCM can also offer unique lessons learned in terms of measurements of emissions, the approval processes for environmental authorities, as well as training of operations personnel who will work at full-scale plants.
The existing participant’s agreement is valid until August this year. The continuation to 2020, as it has been agreed upon now, depends among other things on the Norwegian Parliament’s and the EFTA Surveillance Authority’s (ESA) consent to the Norwegian State’s continues participation.