Managing Risk in An Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Project

The Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) is one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships established in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy.  The SECARB Phase III Anthropogenic Test (the project) integrates carbon capture from Alabama Power Company’s Plant Barry coal-fired power plant in Alabama with transport and injection.  CO₂ from Plant Barry is transported approximately 12 mile to the Denbury Resources Inc (DRI) Citronelle oilfield, and injected into a deep saline formation for the purpose of demonstrating long-term storage.

When injection operations began in Q3 2012, the project became the world’s largest integrated post-combustion coal fired Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in operation. Prior to the start of integrated operations, the project partners developed a risk register to assist in risk assessment and management. The risk register documented the risks identified for each component of the CCS value chain (capture, transport by pipeline, storage and monitoring), and risks related to the integration of these components. The risk register also documented the actions (risk controls) that were planned in order to ensure that risks are appropriately managed.  This paper discusses the review and updating of the risk register after the first nine months of integrated operations.

Developing and maintaining the risk register represents a pioneering effort for CCS projects with capture from a coal-fired power plant and highlights the need to ensure good communication and shared understanding of risks and opportunities among the project partners. The process of developing and maintaining the project risk register should, therefore, help inform future projects about integrated risk assessment and communication processes.