The activities for Performance assessment and mitigation aim at:
- Developing and testing a comprehensive formalised European methodology and tools for performance assessment and mitigation of geological CO2 storage. These tools are crucial for prediction of the emission reduction and subsequent verification needed in certification and emission trading, and contribute towards the evaluation of HSE-effects in environmental and operational permitting.
- Predicting short-term and long-term safety and reliability of underground CO2 storage, in particular of CO2 storage performance during and after active monitoring, respectively (see also Figure 2. One of the results of the performance assessment is identification of the most critical performance indicators (e.g [CO2] in reservoir or overburden). The prediction of storage performance during active monitoring will be provided to SP3 Monitoring so that comparison with the actual monitoring results is possible. If necessary, the short and long-term PA will be adjusted on the basis of the verified monitoring results in SP3 Monitoring. Different approaches for performance assessment will be compared and evaluated.
- Compiling technical recommendations for the best practice in performance assessment and mitigation of underground CO2 storage, which will be delivered to SP4 Best Practice. The recommendations will be directed to common definitions, common methodological framework and common tools for performance assessment and mitigation.
These objectives will be met by integrating the experience that has already been and will be built upon at large-scale monitored CO2 storage sites. The performance assessment will rely on different types of performance indicators that will be defined in discussion with SP4 Best Practice:
- at the global level: effectiveness of CO2 geological storage for achieving CO2 emission reduction, especially related to the European ETS and the Kyoto instruments of ET, JI and CDM
- at the local level: minimisation of the impact of possible leakage CO2, and other gaseous components, on health, safety and environment, especially related to European environmental directives and national regulations on health, safety and environment.
