There are comprehensive assessments of storage costs for the United States, Australia and Europe (Hendriks et al., 2002; Allinson et al., 2003; Bock et al., 2003). These are based on representative geological characteristics for the regions. In some cases, the original cost estimates include compression and pipeline costs and corrections have been made to derive storage costs (Table 5.9). These estimates include capital, operating and site characterization costs, but exclude monitoring costs, remediation and any additional costs required to address long-term liabilities.
The storage option type, depth and geological characteristics affect the number, spacing and cost of wells, as well as the facilities cost. Well and compression costs both increase with depth. Well costs depend on the specific technology, the location, the scale of the operation and local regulations. The cost of wells is a major component; however, the cost of individual wells ranges from about US$ 200,000 for some onshore sites (Bock et al., 2003) to US$ 25 million for offshore horizontal wells (Table 5.10; Kaarstad, 2002). Increasing storage costs with depth have been demonstrated (Hendriks et al., 2002). The geological characteristics of the injection formation are another major cost driver, that is, the reservoir thickness, permeability and effective radius that affect the amount and rate of CO2 injection and therefore the number of wells needed. It is more costly to inject and store other gases (NOx, SOx, H2S) with CO2 because of their corrosive and hazardous nature, although the capture cost may be reduced (Allinson et al., 2003).
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