CCS Projects Are Coming to the Region, but Challenges Remain

The developers of two carbon storage projects that involve Southwestern Pennsylvania laid out their approaches to the emerging technology at the Pittsburgh Regional Carbon Capture Conference, presented by the Center for Energy Policy and Management at Washington & Jefferson College.

The morning-long event attracted about 100 people who listened to panels discuss the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) process, how Pennsylvania is moving to regulate sequestration, and proposed CCS projects that will impact the region.

Bret Estep, vice president of development for Tenaska, spoke about that company’s plans to develop the Tri-State CCS Hub, which will involve 26 injection wells in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The three Pennsylvania wells are planned for Washington County. Representatives of the ARCH2 Clean Hydrogen Hub project also spoke about the CCS activities that it plans to develop as part of the process to make clean “blue” hydrogen from the area’s abundant natural gas supply.

Carbon capture and sequestration is an emerging technology that can play a key role in reaching global climate goals, by capturing carbon dioxide emissions and storing them deep underground in identified geologic formations. Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through burning fossil fuels and traps heat in the atmosphere.

Tenaska’s goal is to have the CCS hub operational by 2029, but Estep noted that there are many steps that must be taken to get there and noted the complicated nature of the project. Not only must the right geologic areas be found, but the company must also figure out if the project makes economic sense.

The company plans to provide underground storage space for 5 million metric tons of CO2 annually. Estep anticipates that the customers seeking to sequester their CO2 will be combined-cycle power plants that use natural gas as fuel, as well as industrial customers. He said there has been interest from companies, but Tenaska is still working to secure contracts.

John Litynski, director of carbon storage and sequestration for EQT, one of the largest natural gas producers in the U.S. and a partner in ARCH2, said the company is still considering the scope of its project to produce low-carbon aviation fuel and hydrogen from natural gas and the location. However, it plans to have injection wells available within the next five to 10 years.

Tenaska has applied to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for a Class VI injection well permit in Ohio and hopes to have five submitted involving Ohio and West Virginia by the first quarter of next year. The Pennsylvania portion of the project would be among the last wells, he said.

So far, no applications for Pennsylvania have been submitted, but Kurt Klapkowski, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Oil and Gas Management, said that Archaea Energy has applied to that agency to drill a test well for a potential landfill gas processing facility in Lackawanna County.

There were a number of questions regarding the safety of the CO2 pipeline transportation and sequestration with the developers pledging to make sure they have the right geology and use the latest technology to prevent any leaks.

While the technology has the promise of helping to decarbonize the industrial and power sectors, several speakers acknowledged there are a number of challenges that its implementation is still facing, including bringing down the cost to make it economically feasible, characterizing the geology of the area, and scaling up the technology so it can be deployed at scale.

To view the PowerPoint  presentations of several speakers, visit wjenergy.org/carbon.