Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), jointly with Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), successfully developed a Korean-type offshore carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage platform, obtaining an Approval in Principle (AIP) from Norwegian classification society DNV on Tuesday, August 31.

After CO₂ is captured and liquefied under high pressure on land and then is transported to the sea via ships or pipelines, the platform injects the CO₂ beneath the ocean floor for geological carbon storage.

The three companies developed this offshore CO₂ injection platform with a view to store 400,000 tons of CO₂ per year under a gas field in the East Sea starting from 2025.

Under the East Sea gas field, which is shortly coming to the end of its productive life, some 400,000 tons of CO₂ will be annually stored over a period of 30 years, totaling 12 million tons.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is emerging as a promising technology to reduce CO₂ emissions, one of the main greenhouse gases considered as a prime constituent for global warming.

CCS refers to the process of collecting and compressing CO₂ produced by large emitters, such as industrial facilities, to store under the ground or sea.

In April, the three companies signed an agreement on a government-sponsored CCS project utilizing the East Sea gas field. Under this agreement, HHI was responsible for the basic design of the platform and KSOE developed the CO₂ injection process and system.

KNOC, well-experienced in operating the East Sea gas field, provided protocols for gas injection and operations.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Technology Perspectives 2020 report, CCS must play a central role to achieve global carbon neutrality, and at least 20 geological CO₂ storage projects are expected to be ordered each year continually through 2060.

"In developing this offshore CO₂ injection platform, we fully leveraged HHI's prowess in offshore platforms built over a long time that sets us apart from many of our competitors," said an official of HHI Group. "Going forward, we will undertake even more endeavors for technology development to lead the market for offshore engineering technologies to achieve carbon neutrality."