Capsol Technologies ASA (Capsol) and Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) have launched a carbon capture demonstration campaign at Mälarenergi’s biomass-powered combined heat and power (bio-CHP) plant in Västerås, Sweden.
Set to begin operations this November, the demonstration marks a step towards a full-scale installation that the partners claim will be capable of capturing up to 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year.
The demonstration will use Capsol’s mobile carbon capture unit, which operates on the Hot Potassium Carbonate (HPC) process, and incorporates Capsol’s EoP® heat recovery technology.
Under a newly signed agreement, SFW will supply the carbon capture facility, while Mälarenergi will manage onsite operations.
Niklas Gunnar, CEO of Mälarenergi, spoke on the campaign’s focus on plant-specific insights. “Carbon capture has great potential to counteract the climate crisis. What we need to move forward with our investigative work is plant-specific knowledge of how the technology can be applied to the combined heat and power plant in Västerås, in the most resource-efficient and optimal way possible. That is what we are now going to investigate, practically and on site,” he said.
The HPC system, which boasts a CO2 capture rate of over 90% and produces high-purity (<99%) CO2, is designed to be environmentally friendly and suited for residential areas, using a safe, non-toxic potassium carbonate solvent. The process also generates low-temperature heat, contributing to sustainable heat production and low energy penalties.
HPC captures CO2 by passing exhaust gases through a solution of potassium carbonate. The CO2 binds with the solution to form a compound, which is then heated to release pure CO2 for storage or reuse before the solution is recycled.
This initiative builds on a previous demonstration campaign by SFW and Capsol at Växjö Energi AB’s biomass plant in Växjö, Sweden. The two companies maintain a strong focus on carbon capture solutions within the Nordics, with further campaigns planned across SFW’s client base globally.
Capsol’s carbon capture technology has already been licensed and demonstrated across various biomass and energy-from-waste (EfW) plants in Europe. Capsol holds agreements with facilities like Stockholm Exergi’s Värtaverket plant in Sweden and has conducted demonstration campaigns at several EfW plants, including Öresundskraft’s Filbornaverket in Helsingborg, and EEW’s facility in Hannover, Germany.
In total, Capsol’s carbon capture initiatives represent over seven million tonnes of potential CO2 reductions annually across EfW and biomass facilities.
Scandinavia is spearheading Europe in carbon capture initiatives, with numerous projects aimed at curbing emissions. According to the European Commission, Norway’s Northern Lights project, part of the Longship program, is expected to capture and store 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2024, at an estimated cost of €2.1bn ($2.2bn).
Sweden’s Stockholm Exergi and Denmark’s Ørsted are also advancing carbon capture projects, targeting combined CO2 reductions of over one million tonnes annually.
