U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has signed an Expression of Interest to capture, transport, and store CO2 from its Fife Ethylene Plant, as part of the proposed Acorn carbon capture project in Scotland.
The Acorn carbon capture project is designed to store carbon from onshore industrial plants under the North Sea seabed.
The deal to include the ethylene plant, located in Mossmorran, Scotland, comes on the heels of an earlier agreement to capture and store emissions from gas terminals at the St Fergus complex at Peterhead, Scotland, which includes ExxonMobil’s joint venture gas terminal.
The initial phase of Acorn has the potential to deliver more than half of the country’s target of capturing and storing 10 million metric tons per year of CO2 by 2030. When expanded further, it will have the potential to store more than 20 million metric tons per year of CO2 by the mid-2030s.
Credit: Acorn
The Acorn project recently announced plans to capture and store CO2 from the Grangemouth Refinery, and the addition of Mossmorran facilities will help Scotland reduce emissions in its industrial sector.
ExxonMobil said that the Fife Ethylene Plant had recently completed a $170 million (£140 million) investment program to upgrade key infrastructure and introduce new technologies "that will significantly improve operational reliability and performance."
A further project is underway to install an enclosed ground flare. On schedule to be operational by the end of 2022, the unit is designed to significantly reduce noise, light, and vibration, and it is estimated the investment will reduce the use of the plant’s elevated flare by at least 98 percent, ExxonMobil said.
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