Eni and Snam, within the framework of the equal Joint Venture set up for the purpose, announced the commencement of CO2 injection activities in the reservoir for Phase 1 of Ravenna CCS. Designed to support industrial decarbonisation, Ravenna CCS is the first project for the capture, transport and permanent storage of CO₂ in Italy created for exclusively environmental purposes.
Phase 1 of the project will capture, transport and store CO₂ emissions from Eni’s natural gas treatment plant in Casalborsetti, in the municipality of Ravenna, estimated at approximately 25,000 tonnes of per year. Once captured, the carbon dioxide is transported to the offshore Porto Corsini Mare Ovest platform through reconverted gas pipelines. The CO2 will then be injected and stored at a depth of 3,000 metres in the depleted Porto Corsini Mare Ovest gas field.
The project is already delivering a reduction of over 90% in CO₂ emissions from the Casalborsetti plant’s chimney, rising to peaks of 96%. This excellent performance makes Ravenna CCS the world’s first industrial-scale project with such high levels of carbon capture efficiency.
Another distinctive element of the Ravenna CCS project is that the facility is fully powered by electricity from renewable sources, avoiding further CO₂ emissions.
CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi commented: “A project of great significance for decarbonisation has now become an industrial reality. The capture and storage of CO2 is an effective, safe – and now available – means to reduce emissions from energy-intensive industries whose activities cannot be electrified.”
Snam CEO Stefano Venier commented: “We are leveraging our long-standing expertise in the transport and storage of molecules, with a specific focus on the Po Valley region, where we already have deep roots thanks to strategic assets that have supported the country’s economic and social development for decades.”
Over the coming years, with the Phase 2, the industrial-scale development of the project will be able to store up to 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, in line with the goals defined by Italy’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC).
With the total storage capacity of the depleted gas fields of the Adriatic Sea, and based on market demand, the volumes of CO2 captured and stored underground could reach 16 million tonnes per year.
Based on its characteristics and storage potential, the Ravenna project is a candidate to become the Italian hub for the decarbonisation of energy-intensive and hard-to-abate industries, representing a fundamental contribution to achieve climate goals and carbon neutrality by 2050.
In addition, the project will provide a concrete and effective solution to support the competitiveness of Italy’s industrial activities, including the energy-intensive sectors of Emilia-Romagna region’s districts, preserving current employment levels and, at the same time, generating new highly specialised jobs through the supply chain linked to the implementation of the project. Eni and Snam are also conducting research and development studies for a possible future reuse of the captured CO2. These initiatives will involve the best skills present in the Emilia Romagna area, including research centres and universities.
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