Spanish firm to develop carbon capture and storage project in Indonesia

Illustrative image (Photo: https://www.energyintel.com/)

Jakarta (VNA) – Spain's Repsol has ambitious plans for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Indonesia, which will be the first CCS project deployed by Repsol and the first in Indonesia.

According to Mikel Erquiaga, Repsol’s director of regional exploration eastern hemisphere, from 2027, the firm will begin pumping about 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year into the exhausted Dayung and Gelam fields at Sakakemang gas project onshore Sumatra.

Addressing an online workshop in early October, Erquiaga said the project is currently still in an experimental phase. 

According to the International Energy Agency, CCS projects are vital to achieving the goal of global carbon neutrality, but have been hampered with high failure rates due to large cost, limited technological limitations, risk of leakage, and other issues.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources has established a task force with the aim of having CCS regulations in place by the end of 2021.

Erquiaga said challenges for CCS projects in Indonesia include the lack of a legal framework and high costs.

However, he expressed his belief that the new task force will soon finalize regulations to address these issues by the end of the year./.