Techno-economic evaluation of blue hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage for onshore Eastern Australia
Devin A. Lacey A * , Kelly J. Zukowski A , J. Gregory Owen A and Trisha S. MacDonald AA GLJ Ltd, Calgary, AB, Canada.
The APPEA Journal 62 S142-S148 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21121
Accepted: 6 April 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
This techno-economic assessment models the feasibility of a greenfield blue hydrogen development with production capacity of 400 tons of hydrogen per day (TH2/day). At an assumed 85% CO2 recovery rate, the 400 TH2/day production scale equates to a need for approximately 1.241 million tons of CO2 per year (MtCO2/year) of subsurface CO2 storage capacity over an assumed project life of 25 years (approximately 31 Mt of total CO2 sequestered). The blue hydrogen production technology applied to the assessment is a Steam Methane Reformer (SMR) with two points of CO2 recovery (pre-combustion process stream amine scrubbing and post-combustion flue gas capture). The remaining key scope components are the CO2 compression and dehydration system, 65 km of CO2 distribution pipeline and a CO2 injection and storage hub comprised of three injection wells, three deep observation wells and three groundwater monitoring wells. The study includes the screening process applied to identify five high-grade depleted gas reservoirs in the Cooper Basin that are the CO2 storage candidates, and which ultimately define the project location. The economic evaluation of the project includes the definition of cost and operations estimates to determine a mean project case and then applies a Palisade @Risk probabilistic distribution model to key project inputs as to risk the project under various scenarios. The analysis concludes that the economic viability of large-scale, greenfield blue hydrogen projects in Australia is highly dependent on hydrogen sale price, Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) value, wholesale natural gas prices and capital cost efficiency.
Keywords: amine, blue hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), carbon credit, carbon dioxide, carbon sequestration, CO2 recovery, Cooper Basin, decarbonisation, depleted gas reservoirs, emissions reduction, gas reforming, hydrogen, natural gas, probabilistic analysis, project economics, project feasibility analysis.
Devin Lacey is a Senior Business Analyst at GLJ Ltd (GLJ) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Devin has 10 years of experience in the energy sector as a Finance, Commercial and Project Controls Advisor working on a variety of major Upstream and E&P developments. Devin joined GLJ in 2020 and is an integral member of the Business Development team that’s diversifying GLJ beyond traditional oil and gas and into emerging energies and sustainability. Devin works on projects in areas such as economic modelling, financial analysis, Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), hydrogen, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, and technical reports. Devin holds a Bachelor of Commerce undergraduate degree from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MBA from the University of Calgary, both as a Finance major. Additionally, Devin is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and an active member of the PMI Southern Alberta Chapter. |
Kelly Zukowski (P.Eng) is a Senior Manager of Engineering at GLJ Ltd (GLJ) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Kelly has more than 18 years of experience in the energy industry and currently co-leads GLJ’s CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) team delivering independent services to help our clients develop strategies to apply this technology commercially on their path to decarbonisation. In oil and gas, he has extensive experience in reserves and resources appraisals and economic evaluations used in corporate governance, regulatory filings, disclosure, financing and asset transactions. Kelly specialises in unconventional resources with a specific focus on the Montney in Canada. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta. |
Greg Owen (P.Eng) is the Vice President of Business Development at GLJ Ltd and has over 30 years of diverse experience in global energy. He has managed large-scale oil and gas fields both onshore and offshore internationally. Greg has consulted on numerous energy and sustainability projects providing strategic services including project planning, system reviews, and acquisitions and divestitures. Greg is passionate about sustainable energy development and specialises in integrated energy management. As an expert in emerging energies, global energy trends and carbon management, Greg has presented in workshops and conferences globally. Greg has a BSc in Environmental Engineering from Montana Technological University, and a diploma in Chemical Technology from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. |
Trisha MacDonald (P.Eng) is a Senior Manager of Engineering with GLJ Ltd (GLJ). Mrs. MacDonald has extensive experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in field development planning, integrated projects, and reserves and resources evaluations worldwide. Trisha’s core focus of study over her career has been in unconventional oil and gas reservoirs and enhanced oil recovery including CO2 injection and waterflooding. Trisha has conducted several techno-economic studies in Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), providing many of GLJ’s clients value added insights for early-stage analysis of their CCUS projects. Mrs. MacDonald is also a co-presenter of GLJ’s highly regarded course on Unconventional Reserves and Resource Fundamentals. |
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