Norway could become the winner in the race to develop and commercialise carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology after Aker Kvaerner announced that it was planning to build a CO2 capture plant at Kårstø by 2009.
The new CO2 facility will capture the emissions from the natural gas-fired power plant and gas reprocessing facility at Kårstø using Aker’s Just Catch technology. It is likely to become the first and largest facility of its kind in the world.
Aker also announced that it is to transfer the Just Catch technology to its subsidiary Aker Clean Carbon, which build the new facility with an estimated investment of NOK725 million.
Aker Clean Carbon hopes to complete the new carbon facility in 2009 and says that the plant will have estimated operating costs of NOK150 million over a three-year period. The plant will have the capacity to remove 100 000 tonnes of CO2 annually from exhaust gases.
The primary purpose of the new plant is to develop and validate construction methods and effective execution models for carbon capture technology. A lack of carbon transport infrastructure means that all the CO2 captured by the plant will be released into the atmosphere in the first years of operation.
“We have come a long way. To advance further, we must prove that we are able to package technology in commercially attractive solutions,” said Leif-Arne Langøy, Aker ASA Chairman and CEO. “Through our company Aker Clean Carbon, we are helping to move carbon capture from a research and development phase into commercialization and sales.”
“This is a significant milestone for the commercialization of our Just Catch technology,” said Martinus Brandal, Aker Kvaerner’s President and CEO and the incoming Board Chairman of Aker Clean Carbon.
Aker Kvaerner has been developing the Just Catch technology for several years. The process uses aqueous amine solutions to “scrub” CO2 from exhaust gases.
More effective amine scrubbing solutions can be a factor that helps cut investment and operating costs for CO2 capture facilities, and Aker Clean Carbon is planning to work with the SINTEF research center and the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim to develop and improve the amine solutions.
Aker Clean Carbon, which is 30 per cent owned by Aker Kvaerner and 70 per cent by Aker ASA, plans to use the technology and expertise to take advantage of growing opportunities in carbon capture and storage.
“In just a few decades, building carbon capture facilities can become an industry similar to the building of oil platforms today. Our goal is to put Aker Clean Carbon at the forefront as this environmental industry matures,” said Langøy. “Aker finds it interesting to invest significant funds in such a project because both the market and potential for future value creation are great. In short, we see opportunities to make money by helping to solve the current climate crisis. Aker has the capacity and a willingness to take a long-term perspective in this matter.”
Aker Clean Carbon will now initiate a dialogue with the relevant public authorities and Kårstø facility owners to discuss the project. The company hopes to eventually build a full-scale CO2 capture facility at Karsto, construction on which would begin in 2009.
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