FACTS & FIGURES - Tecnimont ICB

poor infrastructure. That is why large nuclear power stations, as
currently planned in countries with an established nuclear industry, do
not respond to their needs. By contrast, smaller reactors are being
developed for countries considering nuclear energy for the first time.
IRIS should provide unique benefits to small countries, but is also an
attractive option for larger developed nations.
The IRIS consortium, consisting of 19 organizations from nine
countries, includes industrial companies, research laboratories,
government organizations, universities and power producers. The IRIS
design philosophy is represented by three words: simplicity, economy,
and safety. In addition to electricity production, IRIS is designed for
co-generation, district heating and biofuels production using
low-pressure steam, and can also be coupled with a desalination plant
to produce fresh or potable water.
Maire Tecnimont’s involvement relates to the so-called Balance of
Plant (BOP) of the reactor. IRIS’s main features include its very small
emergency planning zone and its simpler, cheaper design, which
compensates for lower economies of scale. Furthermore, there can be
financial advantages in installing several small reactors of the IRIS
type instead of one big reactor of similar capacity - the so-called
economy of multiples. The Design Certification Review should be
completed in the next three years and the first reactor built by 2017.
High Technology in the Natural Gas Chain
Maire Tecnimont Group, through its Paris-based subsidiary Sofregaz,
is a recognised worldwide player in the natural gas market. Sofregaz
provides specialist services covering the full chain from field
gathering, treatment, transportation and underground storage to
liquefaction and regasification. Sofregaz has developed expertise to
provide the best technological solutions to clients’ demands. Its
portfolio includes a unique design capability for LNG regasification
equipment, including boil-off gas recondensers, patented
technologies for gas dehydration and air cooling of gas turbines.
Sofregaz is currently working on a number of projects worldwide,
including a syngas purification unit, a biomass-to-liquid (BTL) unit,
CO 2 capture, and the recovery of gas that is currently flared.
CO2
Storage
Capture
Transport
CO2
CO2
Storage
CO2
Oil or Gas
Buffer storage
facility
Methane
Deep aquifers Depleted oil and gas fields Unmineable coal seams
CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
34 35
CO2
CO2
CO2
New Technology to Combat the Greenhouse Effect:
Carbon Capture and Storage
Climate change and energy demand are the two major challenges of
the future. It is widely recognised that fossil fuels will continue to
play a central role in world energy supply, which will inevitably lead
to an increase in global CO 2 emissions. According to the
International Energy Agency, approximately 69% of world CO 2 and
60% of greenhouse gas emissions are related to energy. CO 2 is
therefore considered to be one of the main enemies of global
sustainability. Without policy changes, CO 2 emissions are predicted
to rise by 130% by 2050. Carbon capture and storage, which can be
applied to fossil fuel power plants and industrial processes, is one
of the most promising technologies for mitigating this trend.
Through its subsidiaries TICB and Sofregaz, 2 Maire Tecnimont is
becoming a key player in this promising market. As preferred
contractor of one of the major licensors, it has built several plants
in which CO 2 is recovered from flue gases and used to boost oil and
gas extraction, or to increase the output of existing urea plants. This
technology, now applied mostly to small-scale plants, could become
a potentially huge market if applied to major power stations. In
2008, for example, Tecnimont was awarded a contract for the frontend
engineering design of a CO 2 capture plant to be installed at the
gas-fired power station in Karsto, Norway. This will be the world’s
largest application of this technology. Similar designs and studies
are being carried out for important clients in the Middle East.
2 Sofregaz is member of the Club CO2, formed in 2002 on the initiative of ADEME (Agence de l’Environnement
et de la Maitrise de l’Energie) with the support of IFP (Institut Français du Pétrole) and BRGM (Bureau de
Recherches Géologiques et Minières). It represents a key element in the organization of French research
into CO 2 capture and storage.