Merlin’s Eleanor Oldham attended the EAGE Global Energy Transition (GET) conference in Rotterdam from 28th-30th October. GET hosts no less than four co-located conferences for geoscientists and engineers working in Carbon Capture & Storage, Geothermal, Hydrogen & Energy Storage and Offshore Wind.
Rotterdam provided a fitting venue for this event, as decarbonisation of Rotterdam Port has created a local energy transition hub. The Dutch flagship CCS project, Porthos, lies just offshore and already has Rotterdam-based emitters signed up as future customers. In addition, depleted hydrocarbon fields in the area are being developed for subsurface hydrogen storage and offshore windfarms are planned.
Eleanor attended GET to speak about using rock physics to maximise the value of data for CCS projects, however, the subject of rock physics was touched upon in each of the energy transition domains. Fluid substitution modelling can be used to assess the change in a reservoir’s elastic properties following injection of CO2 or H2 (and hence their expected 4D seismic amplitude response), and seismic inversion can provide insights into rock properties for geothermal or offshore wind projects alike.
Many other technological crossovers also came to the fore throughout the event, alongside shared challenges. This was most clearly illustrated in the battle for “pressure space”. Akin to the Rotterdam example, many European (and global) energy transition plans require all the constituent energy transition technologies to share a geographic footprint. However, such close geographic proximity will demand good relationships and strong oversight to ensure each component can operate as effectively as possible. In terms of pressure space, geothermal and hydrogen storage operations create cyclic pressure variations relating to injection and production, but their operating windows could become jeopardised if a nearby CCS site ramps up the pressure of the regional aquifer. Robust and holistic regulation of all subsurface users will be required to ensure the end goal of an effective energy transition is met.
Of all the technologies on show at GET, CCS was generally considered the most mature. Norway’s Northern Lights project began injecting CO2 earlier this year and many other projects in the UK, Netherlands and Denmark are making significant strides in their development. The “first of their kind” projects for each country have all planned comprehensive monitoring programmes to minimise every uncertainty. By contrast, the next tier of CCS projects are adopting more efficient monitoring strategies to make them more economically attractive to investors. Significant private investment will be necessary for CCS to truly take off as a decarbonisation tool, but this will only be possible once a clear revenue stream is in place – something the UK model seems to be encouraging quite well!
Panel sessions were held on various subjects including European geopolitics, the value of technology and digital innovation and the role of young professionals in the energy transition. One of the most engaging panel sessions was on geoscience communication and public engagement. A key message was the importance of early public engagement for any subsurface project as any information void runs the risk of being filled by voices echoing fake news. Landowners neighbouring an onshore facility will be rightly worried about unknown technology arriving on their doorstep. Imagine how you would feel ahead of an invasive medical procedure – you wouldn’t consent unless you trusted the expertise of your surgeon. Landowners will need to feel that same level of trust in us as subsurface professionals before they can feel comfortable sharing their neighbourhood.
Common to EAGE ‘s larger events, GET had a strong social programme to complement the technical content. This year the Conference Evening was held at Rotterdam’s Laurenskirk and provided the perfect venue for informal discussions on how subsurface projects of all types were progressing across Europe. The diverse mix of technical disciplines and nationalities present made GET a highly engaging event and one to be recommended for anyone involved in any aspect of the energy transition.