GEOSTOR Monitoring Symposium 2024 – Summary and Key Outcomes

Title: Environmental Monitoring at Offshore CO₂ Storage Sites

Date: 9 September 2024

Format: Online via Zoom

As GEOSTOR enters its second project phase, we hosted the international GEOSTOR Monitoring Symposium 2024 to learn more about the monitoring concepts and strategies developed in other CCS projects. The symposium brought together over 60 experts from academia, industry, governmental agencies and environmental NGOs to exchange knowledge and best practices on monitoring strategies and technologies for CO₂ storage below the seabed.

The one-day event featured insightful presentations from leading CCS initiatives including Northern Lights and  Greensand, as well as from industry players such as Shell and ExxonMobil. Academic institutions like NOC, NGI, and NORSAR shared their latest research on site characterization, risk management, and long-term monitoring approaches.

Key Outcomes and Insights:

• Monitoring strategies vary significantly between projects, depending on geological settings, legal requirements, and stakeholder expectations.
• Integration of geophysical, geochemical, and ecological data was highlighted as essential for robust monitoring plans.
• Several speakers emphasized the need for transparent, risk-based monitoring to build public trust and meet regulatory demands.
• Case studies demonstrated how adaptive monitoring frameworks can evolve over the project lifecycle, from pre-injection to operation.
• The symposium reaffirmed the importance of international cooperation to accelerate learning and 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:

• Catalina Acuna (Northern Lights, Shell), The Monitoring plan for Northern Lights
• Bettina Goertz-Allmann (NORSAR), Effective monitoring of long-term site stability for transparent carbon capture and storage hazard assessment
• Elin Skurtveit (Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI)), CO₂ storage containment risk management and monitoring in the North Sea
• Franz May (BGR), Geotechnical challenges resulting from legal requirements for off-shore CO₂ storage in the German EEZ

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