Bayernets considers construction of CO2 pipeline

June 16, 2023

Source: Energy & Management Powernews

The long-distance grid operator Bayernets is considering building an 80-kilometer pipeline in southern Bavaria to transport CO2.

The matter is still at the very beginning, stresses Richard Unterseer, division manager network management of Bayernets, in conversation with the editors. The long-distance network operator based in Munich and the cement manufacturer Rohrdorfer are looking into the construction of a pipeline to transport carbon dioxide in southern Bavaria. The two companies have therefore signed a cooperation agreement on a feasibility study.

The two partners want to clarify the extent to which it is possible to connect the cement plant at the Rohrdorf site near Rosenheim with potential CO2 users in the Bavarian chemical triangle in Burghausen. The distance between the two sites is around 80 kilometers.

Unterseer cannot yet report much at all about the project. Not how much CO2 is to be transported once or even what it might cost - that's exactly what the feasibility study is supposed to find out. But Bayernets is dealing with the issue, he says, because there are sectors such as the cement industry that cannot produce without CO2 emissions. "About two-thirds of a cement plant's CO2 emissions come from the process itself. That's why these emissions are called unavoidable."

CCS or CCU - both require pipelines

So this CO2 is always produced. There are two ways to keep it out of the atmosphere. After capture, the CO2 is stored in underground reservoirs (carbon capture and storage, CCS), or it is used as a raw material in industry (carbon capture and utilization, CCU).

However, gas does not usually accumulate where it is needed for further use or where it can be stored. It must therefore be transported. This is where Bayernets comes into play. As a pipeline operator, it generally has the know-how for transporting gas, says Unterseer. At present, this is still natural gas, but in the future it will increasingly be hydrogen. With the current project, the company is examining other options, such as the transport of CO2.

With its existing natural gas pipelines and many years of experience in organizing operations, the company considers itself well prepared to take on this task as well. The CO2 pipeline would be a new build along existing routes, with Bayernets able to draw on existing infrastructure, the plan said.

Integration into European CO2 transport network

The pipeline is also to be embedded in the planned European CO2 transport network. Essen-based transmission system operator Open Grid Europe (OGE), together with Tree Energy Solutions, is planning a 1,000 km CO2 transport network that will carry CO2 to Wilhelmshaven. The commissioning of a first section of the line is planned from 2028. The OGE and TES offer is aimed at steel producers, cement and lime producers, power plant operators, and chemical plant operators.

For Bayernets, therefore, the cooperation with Rohrdorfer in the south is a good choice. The company has more than 150 regional locations in Germany, Austria, Italy and Hungary. According to the company, its product range includes cement, ready-mixed concrete, precast elements and concrete products, as well as sand and gravel.


This is how the CO2 startup grid is designed Graphic: OGE

Author: Stefan Sagmeister