The Italian NGO ReCommon, a partner of the Multinational Observatory, examines the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project promoted by Eni and Snam in Emilia-Romagna, highlighting its areas of concern. The project could later expand into France through the Callisto project.
The « Ravenna CCS » project is Italy’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative. It is proposed by the two main Italian companies in the fossil fuel sector, both controlled by the Italian state, Eni and Snam: the former is involved in the extraction and processing of oil and gas, while the latter is a European leader in gas transportation and one of the main supporters of the supposedly « necessary » transition to hydrogen.
Since Eni first proposed the project in 2021 as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), it has evolved, linking the offshore carbon capture and storage site to a series of offshore and onshore infrastructures designed to collect and transport CO2 from the Emilia-Romagna and Veneto regions to Eni’s plant in Casalborsetti, Ravenna.
At Casalborsetti, there is a power plant where gas extracted by Eni from various offshore fields in the northern Adriatic is collected and processed. This plant is the first to implement CO2 capture technology, and by reusing existing pipelines, Eni aims to transport 25,000 tons of CO2 per year to the Mare Ovest gas field in Porto Corsini, which is depleted.
Gigantism
The Ravenna CCS project is therefore connected to the « CCS Pianura Padana – CO2 transport network, Ferrara-Casalborsetti and Ravenna-Casalborsetti pipelines » project (« CCS Pianura Padana »), which foresees the construction of a compression station at Casalborsetti. The collected CO2 from industrial zones in Ferrara and Ravenna (and later Marghera) will be transported through a network of approximately 100 kilometers of pipelines dedicated to CO2 transport, most of which still needs to be built.
CO2 collection from industrial plants would take place in the so-called phase 2, or industrial phase, of the project, starting in 2027. In this phase, Eni and Snam commit to transporting and permanently storing up to 4 million tons of CO2 per year by 2030.
However, the « gigantic » ambitions go further, with an international expansion through the Callisto project in partnership with the French company Air Liquide. Callisto plans to liquefy and transport the CO2 collected from the Rhône Valley industrial hub in Marseille and Fos by ship to Eni’s offshore fields near Ravenna. In its transnational form, the project is part of the European projects of common interest, will be eligible for funding, and will involve the transport and storage of up to 16 million tons of CO2 per year.
Source: Multinationales
