Communicating site technical, permitting and planning readiness for CO2 storage operations using the ALIGN-CCUS framework of Storage Readiness Levels

CO2 Storage Readiness Levels are presented to communicate those storage site technical appraisal, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project planning and permitting activities that have been completed, and what remains to be achieved for a CO2 storage site to become operational. The framework is based on the experience of site planning in the UK, The Netherlands and site operation in Norway and is applied to more than 700 sites. It extends and complements the industry commercial project development classification to encompass sites at lower levels of understanding, data availability and interpretation. Flexibility within the framework allows communication of the level of understanding of all prospective sites and enables comparison of sites in different permitting jurisdictions. Application of standardised levels informs the duration of permitting and resources invested to achieve contingent storage resource.