GEOSTOR Monitoring Symposium 2024 – Summary and Key Outcomes

Title: Environmental Monitoring at Offshore CO₂ Storage Sites

Monitoring Symposium

Format: Zoom, September 9, 2024

To kick off GEOSTOR’s second project phase, we hosted an expanded Advisory Board meeting in the form of an international Monitoring Symposium. The aim was to gain insights into monitoring concepts and strategies from other CCS projects. The symposium brought together over 60 experts from academia, industry, government agencies, and environmental organizations to exchange knowledge and best practices on monitoring strategies and technologies for CO₂ storage beneath the seafloor.

The one-day event featured presentations from leading CCS initiatives such as Northern Lights and Greensand, as well as from companies like Wintershall Dea and ExxonMobil. Research institutions including NOC, NGI, and NORSAR presented current studies on site characterization, risk management, and long-term monitoring approaches.

Key Findings and Insights

  • Monitoring strategies vary significantly depending on geological conditions, legal frameworks, and stakeholder expectations.
  • The integration of geophysical, geochemical, and ecological data was highlighted as essential for comprehensive monitoring concepts.
  • Several speakers emphasized the importance of transparent, risk-based monitoring to build public trust and meet regulatory requirements.
  • Case studies illustrated how adaptive monitoring plans can evolve throughout the project lifecycle — from pre-injection to operational phases.
  • International collaboration is crucial to advance knowledge exchange and foster technological innovation in offshore CCS monitoring.

Please note: Not all presentations from the symposium can be made available for download due to confidentiality or intellectual property reasons. If you are interested in a specific presentation or topic, we kindly ask you to contact the respective speaker or institution directly.

Download:

Agenda

09.09.2024 – via Zoom

09:00 – 09:30                 Klaus Wallmann (GEOMAR)

                                      Welcome and Introduction to GEOSTOR

09:30 – 10:10                 Catalina Acuna (Northern Lights, Shell)

                                      The monitoring plan for Northern Lights

10:10 – 10:50                 Owain Tucker (Shell)

                                      The logic underpinning monitoring of CO2 storage 10:50 – 11:00

                                      10 Minute Break            

11:00 – 11:40                 Tillmann Roth (Wintershall Dea)

                                      Greensand: Monitoring plan

11:40 – 12:20                 Franz May (BGR)

                                      Geotechnical challenges resulting from legal

                                      requirements for off-shore CO2 storage in the German EEZ

12:20 – 13:00                 Break

13:00 – 13:40                 Doug Connelly (NOC)

                                      Measurement, monitoring and verification of offshore CCS operations; strategies and knowledge gaps

13:40 – 14:20                 Bettina Goertz-Allmann (NORSAR)

                                      Effective monitoring of long-term site stability for transparent carbon capture and storage hazard assessment

14:20 – 14:30                 10 Minute Break

14:30 – 15:10                 Elin Skurtveit (Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI))

                                      CO2 storage containment risk management and monitoring in the North Sea

15:10 – 15:50                 Patricia Montoya (ExxonMobil)

                                      Monitoring, Measurement and Verification considerations for CCS projects: Best practices and real case examples

15:50 – 16:15                 Final discussion

Participating Institutions

Research Institutes & Universities

  • GEOMAR – Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
  • MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen
  • Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
  • NORSAR
  • CDRmare representatives
  • Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI)
  • National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
  • Deutsches Meeresmuseum

Industry Representatives

  • Northern Lights, Shell
  • ExxonMobil
  • Wintershall Dea
  • Equinor
  • Heidelberg Materials
  • Yara Brunsbüttel
  • U.M.
  • FICHTNER

Government Agencies & Authorities

  • Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR)
  • Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
  • Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH)
  • Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWi)
  • Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz (BMUV)
  • Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN)
  • Landesamt für Umwelt Schleswig-Holstein
  • Landesamt für Bergbau, Energie und Geologie Niedersachsen (LBEG)

Associations, NGOs & Others

  • Bundesverband Erdgas, Erdöl und Geoenergie e.V. (BVEG)
  • DGMK e.V.
  • Interessengemeinschaft der Thermischen Abfallbehandlungsanlagen in Deutschland e.V.
  • Bellona
  • Öko-Institut e.V.

For general questions, please contact: khamann@geomar.de

Monitoring strategies vary significantly depending on geological conditions, legal frameworks, and stakeholder expectations.
The integration of geophysical, geochemical, and ecological data was highlighted as essential for comprehensive monitoring concepts.
Several speakers emphasized the importance of transparent, risk-based monitoring to build public trust and meet regulatory requirements.
Case studies illustrated how adaptive monitoring plans can evolve throughout the project lifecycle — from pre-injection to operational phases.
International collaboration is crucial to advance knowledge exchange and foster technological innovation in offshore CCS monitoring.