Europe’s longest-operating on-shore CO2 storage site at Ketzin, Germany: a progress report after three years of injection

The Ketzin pilot site, led by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, is Europe’s longest-operating on-shore CO2 storage site with the aim of increasing the understanding of geological storage of CO2 in saline aquifers. Located near Berlin, the Ketzin pilot site is an in situ laboratory for CO2 storage in an anticlinal structure in the Northeast German Basin. Starting research within the framework of the EU project CO2SINK in 2004, Ketzin is Germany’s first CO2 storage site and fully in use since the injection began in June 2008. After 39 months of operation, about 53,000 tonnes of CO2 have been stored in 630–650 m deep sandstone units of the Upper Triassic Stuttgart Formation. An extensive monitoring program integrates geological, geophysical and geochemical investigations at Ketzin for a comprehensive characterization of the reservoir and the CO2 migration at various scales. Integrating a unique field and laboratory data set, both static geological modeling and dynamic simulations are regularly updated. The Ketzin project successfully demonstrates CO2 storage in a saline aquifer on a research scale. The results of monitoring and modeling can be summarized as follows: (1) Since the start of the CO2 injection in June 2008, the operation has been running reliably and safely. (2) Downhole pressure data prove correlation between the injection rate and the reservoir pressure and indicates the presence of an overall dynamic equilibrium within the reservoir. (3) The extensive geochemical and geophysical monitoring program is capable of detecting CO2 on different scales and gives no indication for any leakage. (4) Numerical simulations (history matching) are in good agreement with the monitoring results.