PYCASSO: what’s that?

Launched at the start of 2021 by the Avenia competitive cluster in the Southwest, which brings together more than 200 members from the energy and environmental sectors, this large-scale industrial project involves around thirty institutions and industrial players, including Teréga. It will help them study how former gas fields in southwestern France may prove useful in decarbonising industrial activities in that region and in northern Spain, regions which emit more than 15 million tonnes of CO2 every year. This project should also help in achieving carbon neutrality in the Pyrenean territories by 2040. The aim is to capture CO2, transport it, and then put it into permanent geological storage in depleted oil and gas fields in the Pyrenean Piemont area, which represent safe and sustainable CO2 storage capacity. In addition, part of that CO2 could be utilised in a number of ways, for example by combining it with hydrogen to produce methane and methanol.

PYCASSO is a cross-border project covering the whole of the CCUS chain (CO2 Capture Utilisation and Storage), which will create value both nationally and at the regional level. After a number of study phases, the first utilisation and injection is planned for 2030, with 1 to 3 million tonnes of CO2 being stored every year. Phase 2 of the project is expected to start in 2035, with 5 million tonnes of CO2 being stored every year.

To find out more, head over to the dedicated website.