Eni, Enel team up on carbon capture

An Italian power couple has been formed, with Enel, Italy's largest electric utility, and Eni (NYSE: E), the country's oil and natural gas giant, announcing plans to work together on a carbon capture and sequestration project.

The two companies were already working separately on opposite ends of the technology, with Enel building a CO2 capture and liquefaction pilot plant in Brindisi and Eni planning to inject liquefied gas into the Stogit field in Cortemaggiore.

Enel and Eni signed a strategic cooperation agreement to develop systems for the capture, transport and geological sequestration of CO₂ and for the joint construction of Italy's first carbon capture and storage project. Financial terms of the deal were not dislcosed.

"These joint efforts offer Italy an opportunity to lead in the development of the most innovative technologies, which are attracting the attention of the major European and U.S. energy companies and of international institutions," said Fulvio Conti, CEO of Enel, in a statement.

"Those technologies can also be exported to large coal consuming countries such as China and India."

Enel's CO₂ capture pilot plant is expected to be capable of removing 2.5 tonnes of gas per hour at the Brindisi coal-fired power station. The pilot plant is scheduled to be ready in the fall of 2009. Eni's CO₂ storage project is aimed at injecting about 8,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

The underground injection is set to start in the fall of 2010.

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