IOCs, French chemicals firms eye decarbonisation

A quintet of major energy suppliers and industrial customers have agreed to work together on decarbonising the Normandy region of northern France, they said July 12.

Aiming to cut CO2 emissions by up to 3mn metric tons/yr by 2030, the first phase will consist of a technical and economic feasibility study which they hope will qualify for European, French and regional funding. US major ExxonMobil, France's Air Liquide, Austria's Borealis, France's TotalEnergies and Norway's Yara signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of CO₂ infrastructure including capture and storage (CCS) in the North Sea to help decarbonise the region's industrial basin.

Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. ngc.co.tt

ExxonMobil is advancing plans for more than 20 new CCS opportunities around the world and said it was "pleased to collaborate on a joint study to assess the feasibility of the deployment of CCS in the Axe Seine/Normandy area, one of the most important technologies required to achieve society’s climate goals.”

TotalEnergies said this "collective effort will be facilitated by TotalEnergies’ actions in developing, with partners, CO2 storages in the North Sea such as the Northern Lights and Aramis' projects. This CCS initiative will contribute to the decarbonisation of our Normandy platform and is fully aligned with TotalEnergies’ ambition to get to net zero emissions by 2050.”

Air Liquide would contribute its expertise in CO₂ capture and liquefaction, having implemented in a Normandy plant an innovative proprietary liquefaction technology that captures up to 90 % of CO₂ emissions.

Austrian petrochemicals company Borealis and international fertiliser giant Yara said the project would achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions for their industrial sites and create new value chains.