DNV and partners launch CETO joint industry project to develop low pressure solutions for CO2 ship transport

Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, Gassco and classification society DNV announced the kick-off of a new JIP to develop low-pressure solutions for the transportation of CO₂ by ships. The CETO (CO₂ efficient transport via ocean) JIP will carry out the technology qualification of a low-pressure ship design and identify solutions to scale CO₂ transportation volume, while reducing the associated risks, to support the development of opportunities in CCS. CETO is funded by the project partners and GASSNOVA through the CLIMIT program and is expected to be completed in 2023. 

The JIP looks to build experience in low pressure transport and fill a vital knowledge gap, by examining the fundamentals of a low-pressure CO₂ transport chain, including: 

• A LCO₂ ship design, with low pressure tank and cargo handling system
• Material choice and testing
• Medium scale testing and simulation of cargo handling 
• Conditioning and liquefaction 
• Testing LCO₂ behavior at low pressure 

“As an important part of tackling the climate crisis, reducing costs across the whole CCS value chain is essential,” said Johan Petter Tutturen, VP, Special Projects – Gas at DNV. “Low pressure CO₂ ship designs are a potentially important piece of the chain, but they need to be reliable and meet accepted safety standards. That is why we are very pleased to be working together with this strong consortium of CCS stakeholders to identify the technical risks and challenges to enable safe and economical operations going forward.” 

“As we build a wider global CCUS network that connects CO₂ emitters with sinks, it is critical that we are able to ship CO₂ safely, economically and at scale,” said Syrie Crouch, VP Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage at Shell. “Ensuring these CO₂ transport vessels and their associated loading/unloading facilities are standardized to enable interconnectivity between capture and storage facilities will be key to success. Shell looks forward to working with the JIP on the next generation of CO₂ ships to deliver this vision.” 

“Equinor believes that low pressure ship transport is an interesting way to scale up CO₂ transport solutions, but we need to make sure the technical risks are reduced to an acceptable level. That is why this project is important” Elisabeth Birkeland, VP for Carbon capture and storage solutions in Equinor, says. 

“We are very pleased to be part of this initiative, alongside our partners, to develop low pressure CO₂ ship carriers,” said Bruno Pahlawan, VP R&D Line Sustainability, TotalEnergies. “This future technology will open the door to the large-scale transport of CO₂, which is an essential element for the upscaling of the CCS industry. It is fully in line with TotalEnergies’ ambition to get to net-zero emissions by 2050 together with society, for its global business across its production and energy products used by its customers.” 

The CETO JIP is named after Ceto, who is a primordial sea goddess in Greek mythology, and builds on an earlier project carried out by the partners that investigated the technology gaps and identified qualification activities to demonstrate that the technologies offer the required levels of operational safety and reliability.

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