SK E&S to repurpose gas field to store carbon

Industry

Published: 10 Mar. 2022, 15:58

SK E&S to repurpose gas field to store carbon

Bayu-Undan gas field [SK E&S]

SK E&S said it will repurpose a depleted gas field in the Timor Sea into a CCS (carbon capture & storage) plant capable of storing 10 million tons of carbon per year.

The Korean energy company said Thursday it will turn its Bayu-Undan gas field, located south of East Timor, into a CCS plant after it finishes production next year.

SK E&S has 25 percent stake in the gas field. The rest is jointly owned by four other energy companies including Australia’s Santos, Italy’s ENI and Japan’s INPEX.

SK E&S and its partners plan to use the CCS plant to store CO2 generated from manufacturing low-carbon natural gas and blue hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is considered a type of eco-friendly hydrogen because the CO2 generated as a byproduct from its manufacturing is captured and stored.

SK E&S plans to separate CO2 from natural gas stored in an LNG plant in Darwin, a city in northern Australia.

The separated CO2 will be sent to the Bayu-Undan CCS plant through a 500-kilometer underground pipeline. The chemicals will be stored 3 kilometers underground.

Technology to utilize the stored CO2 in manufacturing other fuels or materials is being developed, but SK E&S said it has no plan for utilization yet and the CO2 will be stored there permanently.

The repurposed Bayu-Undan gas field will also store carbon emissions generated in the manufacturing of blue hydrogen.

Blue hydrogen will be manufactured in Korea and the resulting CO2 will be sent to the CCS plant on ships.

“The Bayu-Undan CCS plant will be able to cover demand for CO2 storage from Asia and Australia,” the company said.

"It also has room to expand its capacity."

The repurposing process of the gas field is expected to start early next year.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]