By Twarath Sutabutr, President of Office of Knowledge Management and Development (Public Organization), The Office of the Prime Minister, Royal Thai Government.

Thailand is a developing country with a growing economy, which has led to an increase in energy consumption and carbon emissions. In order to tackle this issue, the Royal Thai Government (RTG) has implemented a number of policies and initiatives aimed at reducing the country's carbon footprint and promoting sustainable development. Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) has just become one of Thailand's policies to help pushing a low-carbon agenda and to enable Net Zero emissions within 2065.

Thailand National Committee on Climate Change Policy has approved the establishment of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Steering Committee which initiated the technology applications for the country’s first carbon capture, utilization and storage. The Committee’s mission is set to accelerate the actions that can mitigate climate impacts through the application of CCUS technology in the Energy and Industry sectors, leveraging the knowledge and experiences in Petroleum Exploration and Production (E&P) Industry. This first CCUS pilot project is known as the “Thailand CCUS HUB project”. This paper will summarize the conceptual design and the list of actions required to start implementing the project.

By Weerawat Chantanakome, Advisor and Councilor, Ministry of Energy of Thailand – ACN Advisory Member

Indonesia has announced to achieve Net Zero Emission (NZE) by 2060 in September 2022. Under the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS) to achieve NZE, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) will play an important role in the energy transition pathway, which is targeted to start operating in Indonesia in 2026. Although CCS and CCUS have yet to be included in the APS, considering the current storage capacity assessment in Arun Field, East Kalimantan, and Sunda Asri Basin, CCS certainly will put Indonesia as one of the most significant parts in Regional CO2 storage in Asia.

Storage assessments conducted by LEMIGAS in 2009, 2012 and 2015 concluded that Indonesia has CO2 storage capacity potential of 12,2 billion tons; of which 2.5 billion tons of CO2 capacity located in depleted oil and gas reservoirs and 9.7 billion tons located in saline aquifers. The CO2 storage capacity is distributed regionally, in the South Sumatra region ( 924 Million Ton depleted oil and gas reservoir and 7,7 billion tons saline aquifer), East Kalimantan region ( 140 million ton depleted reservoir), Central-South Kalimantan (10 million ton depleted reservoir), Central Sulawesi (19 million depleted reservoir) Central Sumatra (229 million tons), West Java (402 million tons depleted reservoir and 2029 million tons saline aquifer, East Java (116 million ton depleted reservoir), Masela (depleted reservoir), and West Papua (551 million tons depleted reservoir).

By I Gusti Suarnaya Sidemen, ERIA Expert on CCS/CCUS – ACN Advisory Member

Indonesia has announced to achieve Net Zero Emission (NZE) by 2060 in September 2022. Under the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS) to achieve NZE, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) will play an important role in the energy transition pathway, which is targeted to start operating in Indonesia in 2026. Although CCS and CCUS have yet to be included in the APS, considering the current storage capacity assessment in Arun Field, East Kalimantan, and Sunda Asri Basin, CCS certainly will put Indonesia as one of the most significant parts in Regional CO2 storage in Asia.

Storage assessments conducted by LEMIGAS in 2009, 2012 and 2015 concluded that Indonesia has CO2 storage capacity potential of 12,2 billion tons; of which 2.5 billion tons of CO2 capacity located in depleted oil and gas reservoirs and 9.7 billion tons located in saline aquifers. The CO2 storage capacity is distributed regionally, in the South Sumatra region ( 924 Million Ton depleted oil and gas reservoir and 7,7 billion tons saline aquifer), East Kalimantan region ( 140 million ton depleted reservoir), Central-South Kalimantan (10 million ton depleted reservoir), Central Sulawesi (19 million depleted reservoir) Central Sumatra (229 million tons), West Java (402 million tons depleted reservoir and 2029 million tons saline aquifer, East Java (116 million ton depleted reservoir), Masela (depleted reservoir), and West Papua (551 million tons depleted reservoir).

By I Gusti Suarnaya Sidemen, ERIA Expert on CCS/CCUS – ACN Advisory Member

In 2022, Indonesia reached an initial milestone in the effort to implement a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) programme by successfully starting two pilot projects of carbon dioxide–enhanced oil recovery (CO2–EOR) in Jatibarang and Jabung Working Area. The Jatibarang pilot project, run by national oil company Pertamina in cooperation with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security, implements the huff and puff recovery method where CO2 in liquid state from a CO2 plant in Subang is transported through ISO tank trucks 99.5 km away and injected into the Pertamina-operated Well JTB-161 in Jatibarang Working Area. The CO2 injection started on 25 October 2022 with 80 tonnes per day injection rate at 500 pound per square inch (psi).

During the injection phase, CO2 remains immiscible and bypasses oil, either by displacing moveable water or oil. After the injected CO2 reaches 200 tonnes, the injection is stopped. The injected CO2 then enters a soaking period of 1 week, during which the oil swells and intermediate hydrocarbon is extracted by the CO2. Once the soaking period is deemed sufficient, the well is opened and the operation runs for 1–3 months. Oil is produced as a result of CO2 injection.

By Jesus T. Tamang, Former Director, Energy Policy and Planning Bureau, Department of Energy in the Philippines - ACN Advisory Member

The updated Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2020–2040 is set to support the country’s economic growth rate of 7.4% towards the end of the 2020–2040 planning period. During the period, electricity sales are expected to increase four-fold whilst total final energy demand is seen to post an annual increase of 5.8%.

The Philippines, whilst not a major greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter, is a signatory to the Paris Agreement and has submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The country has also submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which aims to reduce the country’s GHG emissions by 75.0% by 2030 as an aspirational target compared with the business-as-usual (BAU) forecast. This comprises 72.29% conditional commitment and 2.71% unconditional commitment. Under the NDC, the energy sector remains the country’s major source of GHG emissions.

The PEP 2020–2040 presents how the energy sector intends to help achieve the county’s NDC through direct GHG reduction and GHG avoidance from renewable-based electricity generation. The sector’s GHG emissions only cover the combustion of fossil fuels and other activities related to the production of energy. The transport sector, whilst a major consumer of oil-based fuels, is treated separately with respect to GHG emission as the Department of Transportation, another government agency, is overseeing the sector.

Based on computed GHG, the energy sector can achieve a 2.8% reduction from 2020 to 2030, which includes both conditional and unconditional targets. This is equivalent to GHG emission reduction of about 45.9 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) or about 1.37% of the country’s NDC target.

By Zaharin Zulkifli, Deputy Director, Energy Data and Research Unit, Strategic Planning and Communication Department, Energy Commission of Malaysia - ACN Advisory Member

On 19 September 2022, the National Energy Policy 2022-2040 was launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. This new energy policy will help the country achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in 2050, as it faces the challenges of energy transition and climate change. The aspiration has nine targets to be achieved by 2040, among them being shared were the mode of public transport of 50%, the use of electric vehicles (EVs) of 38%; the use of the B30 mixed fuel for heavy vehicles as an alternative fuel, as well as energy savings of 11% for industry and commercial use and 10% for residential use. For the first time in Malaysia's energy policy document, Under Chapter 2.4: Capitalising Emerging Technologies, CCUS was mentioned as one of the technologies to drive efficiency in operations, especially in the oil and gas sector. This indicates that Malaysia Government fully supports implementing this CCUS technology in our country.

Driven by the government initiative on CCUS technology under the new energy policy, the national oil and gas company, PETRONAS is employing CCS technology in their high CO2 fields. They aim to further capture and store CO2 emissions while maturing technologies for onshore processing plants to utilise and convert CO2 into valuable products. The Kasawari Integrated Offshore High Contaminant project, a CCS project off the coast of Sarawak, is a strategic project, which is part of the PETRONAS Carbon Commitment and GHG emissions reduction efforts. The first injection of CO2 is planned for COD by the end of 2025. Once in operation, the project is expected to reduce CO2 volume emitted via flaring by 76 million metric tonnes with an annual average of 3.7 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa), making it one of the largest CCS projects in the world.