The Italian site is located in the South Adriatic Sea, offshore the Puglia region, close to the main Italian CO2 emission power plant (Federico II) in Brindisi, where the energy company ENEL started a pilot plant for CO2 capture. The selected site consists of a saline carbonate aquifer represented by the “Scaglia” formation. It is located in a tectonically stable area, covered by a large amount of data (seismics and borehole data) collected by the oil companies for hydrocarbon exploration.
The research will focus on the reservoir formation: a geological and petrophysical model will be created. Simulation of the geomechanical and dynamic behaviour of the storage complex due to CO2 injection will be investigated. Special attention will be addressed on the effect that fracture stemns may have on CO2 flow during storage in a naturally fractured reservoir and the effect that injection might have on the stabilty of faults.
The South Adriatic site represents the only example of a carbonate reservoir among the sites evaluated within the SiteChar project. Therefore it offers a good opportunity to perform a detailed study of the CO2 storage in carbonate formations where diagenetic processes and fracturing play an important role in the distribution of porosity and permeability and consequently may affect the CO2 storage. We intend to develop a robust methodolgy for storage site characterization in these formations.
Location of the Italian site.