Achimgaz JV of Gazprom, Wintershall Dea preparing for implementation of pilot climatic project
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Achimgaz, a joint venture of Gazprom and Germany's Wintershall Dea, which is developing Block 1A of the Achimov deposits of the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field, has begun implementation of a pilot climate project, the company said in a statement.
"Installation of an innovative high-pressure heat exchanger at UKPG-31 is necessary to reduce the heating time of gas gathering manifolds when well clusters are put into operation. This project will make it possible to prevent the emission of about 28,000 tonnes of CO2 annually for 10 years, reducing the load on the atmosphere, and to produce carbon units in the same volume, improving the economic performance of the enterprise," the statement published in in the sectoral "Gas Industry" journal said.
The company said that the development of project documentation has now been completed and preparations are underway to pass state expert review.
"The results of forecasting the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from Achimgaz facilities until 2045, as well as projecting possible emission quotas for the same period, have shown that in the case of a scenario in which the company does not implement climate projects, the volume of emissions will significantly exceed the issued quota, which will entail financial and reputational risks for the company. The development and implementation of technical measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, on the contrary, will make it possible to comply with the quota and the issuance of carbon units, becoming a participant in the carbon market. Thus, the implementation of climate projects is not only necessary from an environmental point of view, but also economically beneficial for the company," the statement said.
Achimgaz has created a system of production and environmental monitoring, which has enabled the transition to centralized accumulation of initial data and automated calculation of all emission indicators, which has increased the accuracy and completeness of accounting. Data is collected from 363 production facilities and includes information on process and geological losses, fuel consumption for own needs at stationary and mobile emission sources, and the volume of electricity purchased from external suppliers.
Unintentional leaks were analyzed, including, for example, from flanged joints and crane assemblies that directly release methane into the atmosphere. A total of 119 microleaks from loose equipment connections and crane assemblies were identified and corrected. The total methane emission from them amounted to less than 1% of all greenhouse gas emissions, the report said.
It turned out that more than 90% of emissions came from well pad flares and integrated gas treatment units (IGTU), as well as from fuel combustion in boiler facilities.
Based on this, primary vectors for further work to reduce emissions were identified. Among the main measures proposed are reconstruction of the flare unit, installation of a high-pressure separator and a high-pressure heat exchanger, modernization of boiler facility equipment and condensate heaters, as well as modernization of the treatment plant site and installation of a methanol dosing unit on the high-pressure side of the well tie-in.
The company studied possible scenarios of carbon unit circulation that may be released by the enterprise when implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.