Germany

The German case study evaluates a deep saline aquifer in the Northeast German basin. Case study leader is Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) and main project partner is the Swedish power company Vattenfall. Other partners are TNO-NITG and BRGM.


BGR is the central geo-scientific and technical institution in Germany. Since 2000 they have participated in several major EU funded carbon dioxide storage R&D projects such as GESTCO, NASCENT, CASTOR and CO2GeoNet. Vattenfall, which is the 5th largest electricity generator in Europe, started in 2001 a large R&D project on carbon dioxide capture and storage from coal fired power plants called Carbon Dioxide Free Power Plant. The project objective is to achieve secure and feasible technologies for almost complete elimination of carbon dioxide emissions at cost effective levels. Vattenfall also participates in several EU funded carbon dioxide capture and storage projects such as ENCAP and CASTOR.


The purpose of the German case study is to discover, characterise and evaluate a deep saline aquifer in the Northeast German basin that can store 400 Mtons of carbon dioxide. This corresponds to the amounts emitted from a large power plant such as the Schwarze Pumpe during a period of 40 years. The power plant consists of two 900 MW blocks fuelled with lignite. In total the two blocks emit around 10 Mtons of carbon dioxide per year. The plant is located in Brandenburg (Niederlausitz) southeast of Berlin and operated by Vattenfall Europe Generation.


The study undertakes the following investigations:
· Analysis of power plant emissions
· Detailed geological characterisation
· Predictive geochemical modelling of reactions in the reservoir and caprock
· Simulation and modelling studies to predict the long-term fate of the carbon dioxide
· Risk assessment study
· Permission requirement planning
· Evaluation of carbon dioxide transportation to from power plant storage site
· Technical and economic evaluation

At the end of the project, the information will be summarised in a fictive permission application for transportation and geological storage of carbon dioxide.


Survey of Suitable Carbon Dioxide Storage Sites

In an initial survey of suitable deep saline aquifers, a large number of anticlinal structures within Mesozoic formations were identified. With respect to several geological and environmental selection criteria (such as depth, thickness, porosity and permeability of the aquifer, expected storage volume, presence of a structural closure combined with a sealing caprock, existing nature protected areas, valuable nature resources, etc.) a ranking of the structures was conducted. Based on the findings from this survey, the structure Schweinrich was chosen for further investigations.


Structure Schweinrich
The structure Schweinrich is situated right beneath the small village of Schweinrich, 250 km northwest of Schwarze Pumpe. The elongated anticline covers about 100 km2 and is a passive halokinetic structure situated between two large salt diapirs at a depth of 1500 meters with reservoir formations within the Lower Jurassic and the Uppermost Triassic. The reservoir is about 150 meters thick and consists of several layers of fine-grained, highly porous sandstones overlain by thick Jurassic clayey formations.

Ongoing Research Activities
Ongoing research focuses on geological characterisation of the Schweinrich structure, reservoir-geological 3D modelling combined with flow simulations, predictive geochemical modelling and assessment of the long-term risk.

Contact us
Please contact us at CO2STORE@vattenfall.com if you have any questions about the project.