DNV has issued the world’s first certificate of fitness for a carbon dioxide (CO2) storage development plan to Shell’s Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project. The proposed Quest project will capture and permanently store underground more than one million tonnes of CO2 per year from its Scotford Upgrader, located near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

DNV, together with industry and governments, has recently developed recommended guidelines and best practices for CO2 geological storage selection and risk assessment, and were commissioned by Shell to coordinate a comprehensive review to assess the suitability of the Quest project’s underground storage formation to safely and permanently store injected CO2. The review also assessed the project’s measurement, monitoring and verification program to validate that it would provide the necessary rigor to demonstrate effective containment. DNV assembled a panel of seven CCS experts from academia and research institutions to perform the review over a two-week period.

“Through developing guidelines and standards for CCS in collaboration with governments and industry, DNV has taken an instrumental role towards paving the way for safe and cost-effective deployment of CCS,” Jørg Aarnes, Principal Consultant, DNV says. “But while regulations, guidelines and standards may help clarify the rules of the game, the main challenge is demonstrating compliance with these rules. The expert panel validation of the Quest storage development plan is a first of its kind in the world and provides independent assurance to stakeholders that CO2 storage will be safely and responsibly managed.”

“The DNV certification is important because it provides third-party validation that our project meets rigorous storage standards,” says Ian Silk, Shell’s Quest Venture Manager. “It also helps to confirm the capability and capacity of the Basal Cambrian Sands storage formation that we will be injecting into. Proving up this saline formation for storage, which underlies a good portion of the province of Alberta, is imperative to enable the future CCS projects that will be required to help the government achieve its targeted CO2 reductions.”

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