Oil giant Total has signed an agreement to participate in Norway’s Mongstad carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology centre.
The French firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Norway’s Petroleum and Energy Minister and other partners to join the centre, which is one of the world’s largest facilities for testing capture carbon technologies.
The centre has a capacity of 100 000 tons of carbon a year. It also has commercial-scale facilities to improve carbon capture processes and make them more reliable, while cutting their costs and environmental impact. It is operated by Gassnova, a Norwegian state-owned company, alongside partners that include Shell and Statoil.
“Total is taking steps to support the IEA’s 2°C scenario, in particular via CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage),” said Philippe Baptiste, Total’s Chief Technology Officer. “We’re a pioneer in CCUS and we want to take it even farther.
“It’s a strategic investment for Total, because it meets our commitment to fight climate change in two ways: by building our expertise in CCUS technologies and by reducing the carbon emissions of production facilities. We therefore feel it’s important to be involved in the project, the only industrial-scale one in Europe.”
The MOU will extend test operations scheduled to finish in August 2017 through to 2020.