A risk-based framework for Measurement, Monitoring and Verification (MMV) of the Goldeneye storage complex for the Peterhead CCS project, UK

CO2 emissions from the Peterhead CCS gas power plant were planned to be captured, compressed and transported offshore to be injected at a rate of 1 million tons per year for up to 20 years into the depleted Goldeneye hydrocarbon gas field. Although site selection, characterization and engineering designs are considered the prime means of ensuring confidence in the long-term security of CO2 storage, demonstration that they are performing is provided by a comprehensive risk-based Measurement, Monitoring and Verification (MMV) program. The Goldeneye MMV program was designed according to a systematic site-specific storage containment risk assessment to (1) demonstrate containment, (2) monitor for conformance, (3) provide data for emission accounting, and (4) support storage transfer of long-term liabilities. The MMV design process identified a set of appropriate monitoring tasks and candidate monitoring technologies needed to perform them based on comprehensive site-specific feasibility studies. This procedure reduced forty-five candidate monitoring technologies by half to result in a fit-for-purpose monitoring plan that satisfied UK and EU regulations while using less than fifteen different containment and environmental monitoring techniques.