Geology

Accordingly, a large part of the CO₂ emissions that will be generated by the German industry in the coming decades that cannot be avoided by production conversions (approx. 30 – 90 million tons of CO₂ per year) could be stored in the geological subsurface of the North Sea.
In all previous estimates of storage capacities, the rocks of the Upper Cretaceous were not considered and those of the Rotliegende only incompletely. These gaps are now to be closed in the project. In addition, the CO₂ storage capacity in the so-called ‘Duck’s Bill’ is to be investigated for the first time. This will result in a more comprehensive and accurate estimation of the storage capacity in the German North Sea sector.

In order to determine the usable pore space, i.e. the pore space that can be filled with CO₂, thestorage in two selected areas will be simulated with the aid of computer models that represent the different complexities of the geological subsurface in the North Sea region.
For this purpose, detailed geological 3D models of the subsurface are developed for the two areas.

Subsequently, CO₂ injection and storage of up to 10 million tons of CO₂ per site and year will be simulated at a storage structure in each area. The simulations will take into account the dispersion of CO₂ in the subsurface, the displacement of formation water, and the development of pressure in the subsurface. In addition, it will be investigated whether the stored CO₂ remains in the storage formation or can escape along faults (environment).

The actual amount of CO₂ that can be stored at these sites is further limited by additional factors (e.g., economic considerations, regulatory requirements, (geo)technical aspects) that can only be determined during site exploration and detailed planning for a specific CCS project.