Partners

CGS has acquired extensive experience in managing and implementing large environmental and geological projects, such as those listed below (where CGS was / is the lead project partner and grant recipient):

• Assessing the impact of the Gothenburg protocol in the Czech Republic (2007–2011, EEA and Norway Grants, budget: EUR 1.1 million).
• Monitoring of Trans-boundary Air Pollution by Isotope Fingerprinting of Sources (2008–2011, Norway Grants, budget: EUR 1.6 million)
• Review of Groundwater Resources in the Czech Republic (2010–2015, Operational Programme ‘Environment’, budget: CZK 622 million)
• Research on a thermally loaded rock—perspectives of underground thermal energy storage (2011–2014, MPO/FR TIP, budget: CZK 82 million)
• Cr isotopes as an indicator of self-purification of contaminated waters: Technological solution utilizing mass spectrometer (2011-2014, TA0/TA, budget: CZK 24 million)

A pioneer of geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide and CCS in the Czech Republic and the CEE region, CGS has been spearheading scientific research in this area since 2004.

Over the years, CGS has taken part in the CASTOR (2004–2005) and EU GeoCapacity (2006–2008) projects funded from the EU’s 6th Framework Programme for Research, and led the Czech-Norwegian TOGEOS Project (Towards geological storage of CO2 in the Czech Republic) in 2009–2010, funded by Norway Grants. The TOGEOS project was implemented jointly with IRIS, a Norwegian research institute involved also in REPP-CO2, and its results will be used as important inputs of many REPP-CO2 activities.

During the period 2006–2010 CGS coordinated the European CO2NET EAST project aiming to transfer CCS-related knowledge and information to the CEE region. These efforts were followed up by the CGS Europe project (‘Pan-European coordination action on CO₂ geological storage’, a part of the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research), in which CGS took part as a management board member.

In addition, CGS has launched several other CCS research projects in cooperation with ÚJV Řež, one of the partners in REPP-CO2, including ‘Research and development of methods and technologies to capture carbon dioxide generated by fossil-fuel power stations and its sequestration in geological structures in the Czech Republic‘ (2008–2013, funded from the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s TIP Programme); and ‘Development and optimization of methods for the study of safety barriers for carbon dioxide sequestration as one of the basic ways of reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere’ (2012–2015, funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic–TACR).

In the past, CGS prepared many CCS-related technical studies intended both for the public sector (in particular the Ministry of the Environment) and private customers. Moreover, CGS has been actively involved in international knowledge exchange and and networking in the domain of CCS. CGS is member of CO2GeoNet (The European Network of Excellence on the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide), ENeRG (the European Network for Research in Geo-Energy) and the Geo-Energy and Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide working groups of EuroGeoSurveys (an association of European geological surveys).

As the grant recipient, CGS coordinates the whole REPP-CO2 project.

Headquartered in Stavanger, IRIS has branch offices in Bergen, Mekjarvik and Oslo, employing a total of 210 people from 25 different nationalities. Together with the collaborating scientific staff of the University of Stavanger, IRIS can deploy a combined team of 750 scientists and researchers. A particular emphasis is placed on applied research and commercialization of research results. IRIS boasts unique laboratory and full-scale testing facilities at Ullrigg Drilling & Well Centre and state-of-the-art eco-toxic research premises.

One of the institute’s three main research divisions, IRIS Energy employs 110 staff focusing on enhanced oil recovery (EOR), multiphase subsurface flow, drilling and well technologies, modelling, risk analysis and new energy sources. Its oil laboratory is equipped to perform special drill core analyses, in-operation tests of drilling methods and equipment at the Ullrigg drilling centre for use in and exploration of offshore waters and the open sea. In 2013, IRIS was granted the National Centre for IOR award (together with the University of Stavanger and IFE).

IRIS has implemented a strict HSE (Human, Safety and Environment) zero-tolerance policy and obtained NS-EN-ISO 9001:2000 and NS-EN ISO 14001:2004 certificates.

Member of the Czech university system, VSB–TUO provides highest-tier education focused on technical and economic areas, pursuing its primary objective of promoting higher education, research and development and introduction of new discoveries into everyday practice. The university is a direct successor to the Vocational Mining School, Academy of Mining and School of Mines in Příbram (CZ). Today, the university has 7 faculties focusing on mining, geology, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, economics, electrical engineering, civil engineering and safety engineering.

With a long and proud history dating back to 1716 when the first School of Mining was founded in Jáchymov (CZ), the Faculty of Mining and Geology (FMG) offers a unique approach blending natural sciences with technical and economic fields of study. After 1945, the university was moved to Ostrava to provide support to new industrial facilities constructed in this region and its headquarters has remained there ever since. Today, the faculty is a respected partner both to industry and public authorities, producing highly skilled, successsful and sought-after mining experts. The faculty has been involved in and managed many large European projects, such as ‘Institute of clean technologies for mining and utilization of raw materials for energy use’ (CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0082), aiming to develop a unique centre focusing on mining research, research of raw materials used for energy generation, and other opportunities of using the rock environment to ensure sustainable future development and maximum resource self-sufficiency.

Since 2008, FMG has been involved in many joint CCS projects with the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, focusing in particular on geologic storage of carbon dioxide in suitable rock structures in the Silesian Basin. Moreover, in 2009 FMG joined forces with MND, the operator of Moravian oil wells, to work on long-term projects in the area of enhanced oil recovery, in particular EOR involving carbon dioxide injection and polymer flooding. The most significant CCS project handled by FMG was Czech Bureau of Mines Project 60-08 (‘Possibilities of geosequestration of carbon dioxide in underground mines’), aiming to identify geological structures suitable for carbon dioxide sequestration (with a particular focus on underground mines and depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs) as well as the risks related to geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, address the identified risks, and determine a technical completion design for injection wells.

UJV has taken part in many national and international scientific endeavours in the area of energy-related research, development and applications, most of them multifaceted interdisciplinary projects involving large research teams.

For many years, UJV has been engaged in many gas generation and migration projects, such as the Fate of Repository Gasses project (FORGE; EU FP7 Project No. 230357, 2007–2013) or the Redox phenomena controlling systems project (RECOSY; EU FP7 Project No. 212287, 2007–2013). Since 2009, UJV has been pursuing also CCS-related activities, in particular during the projects ‘Research and development of methods and technologies to capture carbon dioxide generated by fossil-fuel power stations and its sequestration in geological structures in the Czech Republic’ (2008-2013), funded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s TIP Programme, ‘Development and optimization of methods for the study of safety barriers for carbon dioxide sequestration as one of the basic ways of reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere’ (2012–2015) and ‘Research and development of methods and technologies for CO2 capture and technical design for the Czech Republic conditions’(2012-2015), the latter two funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR). In addition, UJV took part in the IAEA funded international project ‘Techno-economic comparison of ultimate disposal facilities for CO2 and nuclear waste’.

Currently, CVR is working together with UVJ (Ústav pro jaderný výzkum Řež a.s.) and CGS (Czch Geological Survey) on a joint project called ‘Development and optimization of methods for the study of safety barriers for carbon dioxide sequestration as one of the basic ways of reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere’ (TA03020405), funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR).

UFZ focuses on seismological monitoring (at local, regional and global levels), seismic-tectonic analyses of the Bohemian Massif and its direct vicinity, regional geophysics, and structural geology with a particular focus on active tectonics. UFZ’s team pursue both basic and applied research and give lectures and courses at the Masaryk University in Brno.

UFZ has extensive experience with seismic network development and monitoring of the weak seismic activity in the Bohemian Massif. Since 1991, UFZ (has) operated four local monitoring networks deployed near Czech Republic’s two nuclear power plants and in two areas with increased seismic activity (Temelín NPP since 1991; KRASNET between 1991 and 2008; MONET since 1994; and Dukovany in construction since 2013). In addition, UFZ operates four wide-range stations, including the VRAC station, which is currently part of the global CTBTO IMS (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty International Monitoring System).

UFZ has been involved in a number of monitoring projects for private customers (such as ČEZ, a.s.) and many research projects focused on seismicity and its tectonic aspects, supported from public sources (State Office for Nuclear Safety, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports), Czech Science Foundation, etc.

UFZ is member of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and an associated member of Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). UFZ station data is provided to international processing centres (EMSC, ORFEUS, GEOFON, NEIC) and various national institutions. UFZ’s monitoring infrastructure is partially supported by the institute’s involvement in national projects (CZECHGEO/EPOS) and close international cooperation (ZAMG Wien, GFZ Potsdam, INGV Roma).