One company that has contributed to popularising the technology is Aker Carbon Capture (Aker).
The Norwegian decarbonisation specialist has seen a huge amount of success this year from starting up new carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and delivering modular carbon capture technology to helping lower emissions in the UK via the Net Zero Teesside project.
Excited to elaborate upon the company’s developments, Valborg Lundegaard, CEO of Aker Carbon Capture, spoke to gasworld for an exclusive 12 Days of Content feature.
gasworld (GW): Could you please tell us more about Aker Carbon Capture (Aker) and its role in the global industrial gases sector?
Valborg Lundegaard (VL): We are a pure-play carbon capture company that has developed proprietary and field proven CCS technology over the past two decades. Our solutions help industrial emitters from a range of industries establish sustainable value chains and meet their own net zero targets. Our prioritised sectors include cement, waste management and the gas power industry, where we also take part in blue hydrogen developments.
GW: What do you consider to be 2021’s most exciting projects undertaken by Aker?
VL: Starting up the Brevik CCS project with Norcem HeidelbergCement was a highlight for us this year. We are delivering the world’s first industrial-scale CCS facility at a cement plant, which will remove 400,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Our technology can scale up to capture millions of tonnes of CO2 with a capture rate well above 90%.
GW: Given the strong focus this year on sustainability and COP26, how is the company planning drive forward ‘net zero’ ambitions next year?
VL: COP26 was an inspiring event, and I am glad we got an agreement – even if it wasn’t perfect. I am also glad I spent time in Glasgow, meeting other industry executives and politicians with a common agenda. We are in close dialogue with a lot of companies, including in the gas energy industry, on how to drive their ‘net zero’ ambitions forward. At Aker Carbon Capture, our ‘10 in 25’ ambition states that we’re aiming to secure contracts for the capture of 10 million tonnes per year by 2025.
GW: Is there anything you’re looking especially forward to in the carbon capture arena for 2022?
VL: There is so much happening; It’s hard to know where to start. We have just started up a project to deliver our modular carbon capture plant to Twence, a waste-to-energy company in the Netherlands. Another project I am very excited about is Net Zero Teesside, where we are working with our sister company Aker Solutions, Siemens Energy and Doosan Babcock on a FEED for the UK’s first commercial scale gas fired power station with CCUS. NZT Power is a joint venture between bp and Equinor, and the project has the potential to provide clean power to 1.3 million people in UK.
GW: In the spirit of the time of year and theme of the series, if you could make one Christmas wish for the industrial gases industry, what would it be and why?
VL: In my world it would be that industrial players mature their sustainability agendas to a level that puts them in a position to make decisions that actually reduces emissions. For many, this includes progressing projects that include CCS.