In the last 20-25 years the scientific community has investigated many aspects of transporting CO2 for reinjection and storage from CO2 specific flow assurance issues to material compatibility starting from pure to anthropogenic compositions. The operating scenarios includes the design of new pipelines and the repurposing of existing assets (when deemed feasible).

The present paper presents an updated view of the state of art of the scientific knowledge on the fluid being transported and proposes a step by step guidance for developing an inspection, maintenance and repair plan considering both the conversion of existing offshore pipelines from hydrocarbons to CO2 transport and reinjection, and the design of brand new asset for CO2 transport. In particular, the main focus of the study will be the analysis of the impact of the new transport conditions and new fluid characteristics, on threats that still needs to be considered, as well as the investigation of new threats arising in the new transport scenario.

The paper discusses all the activities required to start the initial assessment and to reach the pipeline baseline benchmark, for both repurposing of existing pipelines and design of new pipelines for CO2 supply. Based on this, it is possible to start detailed risk assessment activities that are presented for a real case. The feasibility of the plan is discussed in terms of the challenges related to the fluid being transported, the inspection technologies available and the maintenance and repair strategy to be put in place to guarantee the system functionality in normal conditions and in case of relevant damage to the assets.