European energy company E.ON and Danish waste management firm ARC have signed a deal to partner on the development of a carbon capture project at Copenhagen’s CopenHill waste-to-energy facility in Denmark. The initiative, known as CopenCapture, aims to capture up to 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year for permanent geological storage.
The agreement, signed atop the chimney at the plant, forms part of E.ON’s application for prequalification in the Danish Energy Agency’s CCS (carbon capture and storage) tender scheme, which requires full carbon capture at eligible sites by 2030.
However, the project will depend on securing financial support through Denmark’s national CCS funding programme, the $4.1bn CCS Fund.
Part of the CO2 emitted at CopenHill comes from biogenic sources, such as contaminated paper and cardboard. Capturing this biogenic carbon would result in so-called negative emissions: carbon removed from the natural cycle and stored permanently. These removals have the potential to be monetised through carbon removal credits traded on the voluntary market.
“Waste-to-energy still faces a challenge: CO2 emissions from the process,” said Marten Bunnemann, CEO of E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions. “CO2 capture in waste-to-energy is a crucial climate solution.”
CopenCapture is the latest in a series of large-scale CCS projects underway in Denmark and neighbouring countries. The Porthos and Aramis initiatives in the Netherlands, supported by Danish infrastructure, aim to store millions of tonnes of industrial CO2 beneath the North Sea.
Other developments include Ørsted’s carbon capture plans at wood chip-powered CHP plants in Kalundborg and Avedøre, plus the Northern Lights joint venture involving energy companies Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, which received final investment decision for its second phase earlier this week (27 March).
