In Spain, PilotSTRATEGY is working in the Ebro Basin in the north-east of the country near Zaragoza, halfway between Quinto and Belchite.
There are many reasons why this area was chosen. The geology is well defined and well studied. The structure has two potential storage formations and a double seal (primary caprock and regional secondary caprock). There are minimum risks of natural seismicity events and there are CO2 sources in the area: paper and energy production. The region is lightly populated with the closest village of 1,500 inhabitants 30km away. Local society is highly committed to environmental and nature protection. At the same time there is a need for new activities to improve the local economy and prevent depopulation. The regional government has experience in CO2 storage permits. The storage capacity is estimated at 30 million to 45 million tonnes.
To date there have been two regional stakeholder committee meetings. The main stakeholders are local mayors, the regional administration, industry, Environmental NGOs, media and commercial associations.
“The collaboration has been fantastic and useful,” says Paula Canteli of IGME, the Spanish Geological Survey and PilotSTRATEGY’s coordinator in the region. “The interaction of the administration and public entities with industry partners proved of great benefit to the project through complementary work and vision.”
“Spain is at an inflexion point for CO2 storage, moving from pilot to commercial scale visualisation, and PilotSTRATEGY is actively collaborating in this step. The holistic approach from PilotSTRATEGY and its strong focus on social perception is unique and of utmost relevance for the activity at this stage.”