TCM has bolstered Ørsted’s own specialist knowledge in the amine-based carbon capture project, which is set to commence within approximately two years. In this interview, Chemistry Specialist Kristian Røhe Kongsted Krum describes the project.
“The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has granted Ørsted a 20-year contract for our carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative, the ‘Ørsted Kalundborg Hub’. This undertaking involves Ørsted implementing carbon capture technology at our wood chip-fired Asnæs Power Station in Kalundborg, located in western Zealand, as well as at the straw-fired boiler in our Avedøre Power Station situated in the Greater Copenhagen area.”
“TCM possesses the largest carbon capture pilot plant globally and holds substantial practical expertise in conducting extensive tests at large scale using various open and proprietary solvents. In light of this, Ørsted opted to partner with TCM to enhance our specialized understanding of the amine-based carbon capture process.”
“To ensure a successful and enduring CO2 capture endeavour, a profound grasp of the intricate technical aspects inherent in the capture process, coupled with effective strategies to address the challenges, is absolutely essential.”
“The collaboration with TCM has yielded valuable insights into particular aspects of the carbon capture process. These insights can be directly or indirectly applied to ongoing Ørsted carbon capture initiatives, including discussions with technology vendors.”
“This collaboration has yielded valuable knowledge-sharing and advisory services, drawing from TCM’s practical insights gained from operating the world’s largest carbon capture pilot plant.”
“The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted is actively involved in the development, construction, and operation of offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities, as well as bioenergy plants. The process of decarbonization at Ørsted commenced in 2012 with the commitment to transition all coal-fired power plants owned by Ørsted into bio-converted facilities. By the year 2025, Ørsted aims to achieve carbon neutrality.”
“Beginning in 2025 – and fully operational by 2026 – Ørsted intends to initiate carbon capture processes at the Avedøre and Asnæs power stations. Subsequently, the captured carbon will be transported to Norway, where it will be stored in a reservoir within the North Sea. In entirety, our goal is to annually capture and store 430,000 tonnes of CO2.”
“The substantial task of scaling up the global carbon capture (CCx) portfolio to align with the Paris Agreement stands as a formidable challenge. The urgent need of decarbonization within heavy-duty industries is paramount, requiring action not in a decade, but in the present moment. While numerous CCx projects have been announced worldwide in recent years, it is truly exciting to not only observe but actively contribute to the evolution of this burgeoning market.”
TCM’s work on operation of capture plants using different amines has received international recognition. The work over many years has meant that technology suppliers have grown, and costs and risks have been reduced.
Some of TCM’s testing has been with the non-proprietary MEA and CESAR1 solvents, which are studied extensively in research and academia and can be used as benchmarks for new or proprietary capture technologies. Testing these non-proprietary solvents for thousands of hours at the scale of the TCM amine plant, with real flue gasses, has unlocked many new learnings for the industry, shared via open publications and TCM’s Advisory Services.
In collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) (lenke inkl. LinkedIn), an independent US energy R&D body, TCM have tested and published a number of verified baseline conditions with MEA & CESAR1 with CHP and RFCC flue gas.
Since the Technology Centre was set up, it has been focused on creating a good basis for comparison for technology suppliers that come to TCM. Therefore, the amine plant has been tested with non-proprietary MEA and CESAR solvents. These tests have used different starting points and have tested how the plant itself would work by, for example, stress-testing through frequently starting and stopping the plant. The results are available to all, and TCM can share these reference studies.
“Thanks to the support for these projects, we can use these results to help to compare future technologies, which is something that makes TCM unique. We are collaborating with SINTEF and DNV in these efforts. We can quantify the technologies and provide them with good answers as to where they stand in the market,” adds Ismail Shah, CEO of TCM.
The CESAR 1 solvent, developed in the EU CESAR project, was utilised for the first time at TCM for the ALIGN CCUS (Accelerating Low Carbon Industrial Growth Through Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage) project test campaign in 2019. The CESAR 1 solvent is a blend of 27% wt 2-amino-2-methylpropan-1-ol (AMP) and 13% wt piperazine (PZ). This is considered a better solvent than monoethanolamine (MEA) in terms of thermal energy performance and stability (lower degradation) and has been proposed by the IEAGHG as their new benchmark solvent.
TCM DA carried out baseline testing of the CESAR 1 solvent in June 2020 using flue gas from the CHP source, controlled at 5% CO2 to simulate state-of-the-art gas turbine flue gas, and continued with additional testing that lasted into late 2020 using flue gas from the RFCC source at Mongstad that has higher CO2 concentrations. The main objectives of these campaigns were to produce knowledge and information that can be used to reduce costs as well as technical, environmental, and financial risks at the commercial-scale.
You can read more about this as well as other tests that have been conducted on our website.
Below is an overview of the reports published by TCM and its various partners.
On July 7, 1973, Karstein Mangersnes began his career as an apprentice electrician at the City Hall in Bergen. 50 years later, he concludes nearly 14 years at TCM and enters retirement.
At TCM, many of those with significant responsibilities during the project and construction phases have had their names put on street signs at the facility. Karstein was both then and later among the “foot soldiers” at TCM, those who ensured that the installations and equipment for CO2 capture were in place and functioning properly. During a staff meeting last year, there was a hint that a nameless street stub should be given a sign with Karstein’s name.
“I didn’t think much of it at the time until a few months later when a colleague asked me what I had planned for lunch. As I returned from the cafeteria, I noticed that there were unusually many people dressing up in yellow protective gear. My supervisor, Kjetil Hantveit, told me he wanted me to join him for a tour of the facility to get an update on the progress of ongoing projects. When we arrived at 3rd Site, most of TCM was already there. I felt a bit embarrassed when I realized they were there for me. But I greatly appreciated the recognition. Undoubtedly, a highlight that’s nice to reminisce about.”
“It was in November 2009, and the groundwork on the large site was well underway. I had been working offshore for several years and was interested in a job on land, preferably near my home in Manger. At that time, I was employed by Aibel, where I had worked for 43 years. Aibel had a contract for the engineering of significant parts of the TCM facility, which also included overseeing the construction phase. This suited me well, given my background in electrical work, and I was eager to be a part of it. It involved a lot of diverse tasks, but it was incredibly educational.”
” I was, of course, present and took part in the celebration. Jens Stoltenberg spoke about how important TCM was going to be in the effort to achieve the climate goals, and he was right, even though the “moon landing” didn’t happen. When I started in 2009, I didn’t have specific knowledge about carbon capture, but I gradually understood that testing technologies could be a crucial part of the solution to reduce emissions from the industry. It wasn’t obvious that I would continue into the operational phase, but I was happy when the opportunity came through the employment modifications department. Not only because the job was exciting but also because the working environment at TCM, both then and now, is incredibly good.”
Name: Karstein Mangersnes
Age: 68, turning 69 in October
Education: Vocational degree in electrical work
Marital status: Married, two children and three grandchildren
Affiliation to TCM: Worked in electrical installation from 2009 to 2012, worked on modification and upgrade of the facility from 2012 to 2023. Employed through Aibel from 2009 to 2016 and Omega from 2016 to 2023.
“The main task has been the planning and implementation of modifications and upgrades to the facility, as well as a central role in the execution of annual maintenance shutdowns. In “Mod,” we are a team of six working together on this, and we also try to assist with operations and maintenance when necessary. In the same way, Mod gets support from these departments when we need it.
Over the years, I have been primarily responsible for project follow-up in the field, closely collaborating with suppliers from all disciplines and professional groups. The cooperation has been excellent. Now, I am passing the baton to Roger Solheim, and it will go smoothly. In addition to his background in electrical engineering, he also has process experience that will be valuable.”
“Are there any specific projects or events from your work at TCM that you remember with particular joy?”
” Then I would like to highlight the establishment of the “Site for Emerging Technologies” (3rd Site), which has been incredibly exciting. I had the opportunity to be involved in the planning and supervision of the construction process at the site for new capture methods, which required a lot from the TCM organization and our suppliers. The offerings at this site have attracted several new customers, indicating that the effort and investment made by TCM have been worthwhile.”
“In 2016, a new filter (BD) was installed in the facility to reduce the number of particles in the flue gas. There have also been several upgrades carried out internally and externally in the absorber tower. These projects involved numerous challenging tasks in terms of planning and execution, including working at heights, demanding lifting operations, welding, and confined space entry.”
” I haven’t had direct responsibility for that dialogue, but there has been some communication, nonetheless. There has been a bit of a cultural collision, and neither Southern Europeans nor Americans find it easy to understand the strict HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) regulations at TCM, as well as the Norwegian requirements for working hours and working environment. But overall, the collaboration has gone well. They just need a little explanation of how and why things are the way they are.”
“The short answer is that TCM maintains a high professional level in what we do and has delivered good results in the test campaigns. The quality of what we deliver is high, which is largely due to good collaboration across the organization.”
“I believe in carbon capture as a tool in the fight against climate change, and I have hope that TCM will continue to play an important role in the work of optimizing the design and operation of full-scale capture facilities, especially in reducing energy consumption. I also hope that the development of entirely new technologies will continue. The expertise at TCM is too valuable in the battle to meet climate goals to not be utilized – for many years to come. Therefore, I will follow with interest all the exciting things that lie ahead for TCM, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my great colleagues for their collaboration – for the insightful conversations and thoughtfulness when it was needed. I wish them good luck!”
“I have never dreaded going to work and I will definitely miss TCM, both the interesting professional challenges and the social life within the company. I must be honest about that. But there is a time for everything, and I don’t think it will be a problem to keep myself occupied as a retiree. I will try to stay fit with hikes, maybe some jogging and cycling. My wife Astrid and I live in a large house where there are always things that need fixing. We also have a fishing cabin in Stolmen, Austevoll, which hopefully we can visit more often. We both enjoy it there. The ocean is right outside, which is perfect for me as an avid hobby fisherman. Astrid plans to work for another two years and expects a cooked dinner every day. But even though I enjoy cooking, I can’t promise that. Our eldest daughter lives nearby in Manger, and the youngest one in Moss, so I’m looking forward to spending more time with their families. And if the neighborhood association or other organizations need a helping hand, I won’t hesitate to lend my assistance if they want me to volunteer. Life goes on with a new chapter. It will be different from what it has been, but I’m sure it will be good!”
Freddy Garcia was born and raised in Venezuela. Intimidation was an option the first time he had to drive a car in really snowy weather, but he kept going – for a job interview at TCM.
– As part of my previous position in TotalEnergies, I had the opportunity to be part of the team building knowledge related to other parts of the CCUS chain, mainly on CO2 conditioning, transportation by ship and pipeline and injection wells. From that point of view, CO2 capture was the final piece of the puzzle missing for me to have a complete view of the whole chain. In addition, being a chemical engineer by education, with several years of experience in the upstream industry, going into carbon capture technologies seemed also like a natural transition.
– Let me start with the preamble to that meeting. As a south American living in France, my experience with snow was very limited. On the day of my first meeting, I was on my way to TCM, in the middle of February with temperature below zero, driving in the snow for the first time, stuck in traffic because there was a traffic accident along the way due to the icing conditions. So, I told myself that it must be extremely interesting opportunity for me to move and live under these extreme conditions. A couple of hours later I was convinced to accept the offer, after meeting with the highly motivated TCM team, walking along these state-of-the-art facilities, and understanding the impact on the society of the work that TCM does every day.
Facts
Name: Freddy Garcia
Age: 42
Education: MSc. in Process Engineering from ENSIC in France
Marital status: Married
Affiliation to TCM: Technology Manager 2020 – 2022, Business Development Manager 2022 – 2023, seconded from TotalEnergies
– Our job in Business Development at TCM is basically to talk to people, listen to what problem they have and then identify ways that TCM can help. The people we talk to are mainly technology developers and emitters, but in the future, it can be many other types of organizations. The problems they have are often the scale up of the technology (for technology developers), or the need to decarbonize their activities (for emitters). The ways TCM can help are simply by opening our facilities for testing or by sharing the knowledge we have developed through our 11 years of operations.
– I would have to say that it is whenever we go for external activities, like conferences, and you meet all these people that already know TCM and what we can do, and they are excited to be able to talk to us. At that moment you are reminded of the importance of what we do at TCM. That is for me one of the more rewarding parts of our work.
– Carbon capture is a global effort. That means that the stakeholders are all around the world and as such we need to be available to meet people at any time. Thus, I would say that the hardest part is the very long working days, when you start very early in the morning to have meetings with Asia, work during the day and then having night meetings with the west coast in North America. And that happens more frequently than you would imagine.
– It is very easy to state the obvious, which is that TCM has helped mature technologies necessary to reduce our emissions, and that TCM personnel must be proud of that. However, it can be a bit reductive since people that were not directly involved on the campaigns may feel excluded. I believe that all people who has been part of TCM or collaborating with TCM in one way or another must be proud, from the technical and administrative personnel to TCM representatives involved with TCM, to our external partners across the world. They are all important to help TCM achieve its final goal, which is help society in their path to a decarbonized future.
– These projects are now in a situation that I like to call “delivery mode”, meaning they don’t have the time to do anything else other than solving the issues that appear along the way, as soon as possible, to avoid impacting the planning and startup date. The best way that TCM can help these projects is to be ready to provide as much expertise as possible when these issues arise (and they will), helping them to deliver the project on the expected date. With all the years of experience at TCM, we most likely have the answers they will need.
– From a technology point of view, today there is no blocking point preventing deployment of solvent-based technologies. The barriers are elsewhere, and one of them is the cost of the capture. This is where TCM testing can play a role, demonstrating options for cost reduction and the interactions between them, typically fine-tuning solvents compositions, absorber inter cooling, lean vapor compression, or intensification equipment like rotating packed beds. And of course, once the first wave of capture projects are started, like Brevik CCS, Klemetsrud and others, there will be learnings and new ideas for optimization that need to be demonstrated at TCM scale before they can be implemented in the real plant.
One last area where TCM can play an important role is on helping demonstrate other type of technologies for carbon capture different from the classical solvent-based technologies. Even though they are one of the most mature technologies, amines will not the best option for all sites that need to be decarbonized. What the emitters need is a whole range of technologies readily available so that they can chose the one that is the best fit for their constraints specific to their site, which might range from footprint limitations, to extremely constraint emission limits, lack of steam, or the dynamics of the system. This is why TCM’s Site for emerging technologies is such a success: with its personnel experienced in test planning, module installation, execution, operating and troubleshooting of test campaigns, we help the technology developers to maximize the value they get from the test, with much smaller downtime than they would get by testing elsewhere.
– As I mentioned before, carbon capture technologies that work are available today. While the existing ones can be improved, and new technologies will certainly appear in the future, we need to deploy the ones we have today as soon as possible. I’m truly convinced that TCM can have a huge impact on accelerating this deployment. My wish for TCM in the years to come is to find a way to unlock all its potential for knowledge sharing and dissemination. In my opinion this would be a game changer for the industry.
The Technology Centre has been in operation for more than 10 years. This means we have gained unique experience with carbon capture technology.
In this series of reports, you can read about our experiences of building a carbon capture facility and the sorts of knowledge TCM built up over this period. These experiences are used when we advise on upcoming CCS projects. We have experienced and learned a lot about air emissions and the experience gained from the design is useful to this day.
The first article describes the amine plant, which was designed and constructed by the carbon capture technology provider Aker Clean Carbon (ACC) with specifications and further generic functions defined by TCM.
Many new technology elements will be tested and verified, including improved solvents. Monoethanolamine and a new ACC solvent will be tested in the first 16 months of operations. Tests will then be carried out by TCM’s partners. The quality and quantity of emissions from the absorbent to the air have been given top priority. At present, they represent a health and environmental uncertainty, primarily due to the lack of reliable and accessible experimental data. While knowledge and experience of these emissions is rapidly increasing, a discharge permit is still being applied for.
The amine plant is extremely flexible and can incorporate many new technologies. Thanks to its scale, it will provide valuable information on utility and space requirements, upscalability and contribute to reducing HSE risks and costs.
The other article focuses on the following topics:
Both plants will be able to capture carbon from two different flue gases with 3.5 and 12.9 mol% CO2.
Below is an overview of the main topics where TCM has gathered together its professional contributions:
– Discovering the unexpected is hard! However, TCM has the expertise technology developers need to understand and find solutions to problems that arise along the way when projects for capturing and reusing CO2 are to be realized.
This was the main message of TCM’s Managing Director, Muhammad Ismail Shah, in his presentation at the European CO2 Capture, Storage & Reuse Conference in Copenhagen on the 17th of May.
More than 400 participants from all over the world were gathered for two days to focus on carbon capture, storage and utilisation of captured CO2 and its use for production of building materials like cement, concrete, steel, but also production of advanced fuels that will contribute to further decarbonization of other sectors. The year 2022 can easily be considered the breakthrough year in terms of policies and regulations for green technologies. A discussion topic at the conference were the influence of legislation on carbon capture and utilization technologies.
In his presentation, Shah gave the participants an introduction to what 11 years of activity at the world’s largest and most flexible test centre for demonstrating carbon capture technologies has given the world of knowledge, which is collected in more than 60 scientific publications. He maintained that testing at TCM has been absolutely crucial for the planning and realization of full-scale capturing facilities both in Norway, and across the world.
– Our plant offers great opportunities for testing and verifying mature as well as completely new and less mature capture technologies. The facilities would, however, have been nearly worthless without people with outstanding expertise in the field. The CCS industry is now entering a phase with a strong increasing need for precisely this expertise. That is why we now focus even more on our offers within Advisory Services, Shah said.
TCM’s service offer can be divided into several categories, such as Generic learnings, Plant design learnings, Operational learnings and Process Simulations. The image below provides detailed information on which services are included in each of these categories.
– Emission monitoring and permitting is a topic that requires particular vigilance and expertise, Shah pointed out. – What happens with emissions is the part of the capture process where the unexpected can occur in particular and will require detection. Defining the industry’s needs, and contributing to actual solutions, is perhaps TCM’s foremost “parade branch”.
As a closing remark Shah emphasized that cost of CO2 capture should be reduced in parallel to deployment of first generation capture facilities. – TCM is, and will remain, an important arena for de-risking and expediting upscaling carbon capture technology, he said.
– TCM has taken the industrial lead in demonstrating CO2 capture technologies at scale and in solving major technology challenges that are applicable to the whole CCS industry.
Name: Matthew Campbell
Age: 42
Education: Master and Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Marital status: Married and one child
Affiliation to TCM: Principle Technologist 2019 – 2021, Technology Manager since 2021.
– When I was in university studying chemical engineering, it was always important for me to find a way to help the environment and give back to society. Fortunately, my first job out of university was in the field of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide removal and these propelled me into the CO2 capture industry at a fairly young age. It’s quite nice to see now that the CCUS industry is picking up momentum and I am hopeful that many full-scale projects are realized.
– My first meeting with TCM was many years ago, around 2014. At this point I was representing a company which was trying to test and develop a commercial CO2 capture technology. My first impression of TCM was excellent, during this meeting I was very clear of the needs for testing and the TCM experts from different parts of the organization provided very relevant feedback, that made me feel confident that testing would be a success.
– Now I would say the Technology Manager role is a quite a broad role covering wide areas of importance for TCM. Firstly, to ensure that test campaigns have proper time for planning, preperation and excectuion phase to ensure each test is a success. Secondly, to support knowledge transfer of all our learnings from 11 years of operation, this is done through publications, conferences and our recently developed Advisory Services group.
– It is hard for me to differentiate the most rewarding work I have participated at TCM as there are so many fruitful activities. I would say I find it very exciting to have the opportunity to facilitate open-source testing campaigns that allow for publications and knowledge sharing, which will help the greater CCUS industry. Of course it is also quite rewarding to support proprietary technology vendors test and surpass some final hurdles needed before technology commercialization.
– In general for amine based post combustion CO2 capture, all technologies and future commercial scale projects can have challenges related to amine emissions, amine degradation, CO2 capture efficiency and energy demand requirements. Over the years at TCM strong focus has been put on these area and to ensure best possible de-risking can be put in place to allow large scale commercial projects to be successful.
– I think TCM has taken the industrial lead in demonstrating CO2 capture technologies at scale (~12 MW). TCM has taken initiative to take the lead in solving major technology challenges that are applicable to the whole industry. Some examples are:
– TCM does have dialogue with both projects to support as needed along the respective project development timelines. I think a lot of the learnings from the 11 years of operation have already been taken into consideration by these projects. Also, our experience related to emission monitoring and permitting will be extremely valuable for both projects moving forward. Lastly, I believe as these plants begin to approach start-up some evaluation and tests at TCM can be deemed quite valuable for troubleshooting unexpected issues at these plants.
– I believe there will always be advancements to CO2 capture technologies, either to resolve new issues or further develop more optimized solutions for existing issues. A good example is that many projects will be looking for advanced instruments and analyzers, which can be used to improve the efficiency for the capture plant operation. I think TCM would be the best place to evaluate these instruments before considering full scale deployment. Additional work can also be planned to help optimize a newer open-source solvent called CESAR1. Currently, the plan is to test a modified composition of CESAR1 in the amine plant in 2025 to see if the technology can be improved further as compared to MEA. I would also think that more dispatchable and transient capture plant testing would provide very valuable insights for the industry.
– My wish would be for a sustainable future for TCM, where we first continue to support the first phase of commercial projects for amine-based CO2 capture, while in parallel putting more and more resources for developing our site for emerging technologies. This can allow us to quickly test new technologies and assess if any can be potential gamechangers to reduce the cost of CO2 capture. I believe moving forward we will need a distribution of capture technologies that can help meet the worldwide demand for CCUS projects.
The Site for Emerging Technologies at TCM is now playing host to two test campaigns in parallel: MOF4AIR and ACCSESS.
“It may be hard work, but it is really exciting working on these two projects side by side,” says Ahmad Wakaa, while his colleague Roger Solheim adds “This is innovation at the highest level”. Wakaa is responsible for the coordination of test activities and subsequently reporting back to clients, while Solheim oversees operations at TCM’s third site.
Solheim gives us a tour of the TCM’s new site for emerging technologies to show us what is currently going on. The MOF4AIR test unit is a substantial container emblazoned with the EU flag and an inscription declaring that the project is financed with funds from the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
MOF4AIR stands for “Metal Organic Frameworks for carbon dioxide Adsorption processes in power production and energy Intensive industRies”. MOFs are hybrid porous solids that represent a new class of crystallised porous materials. MOF materials take advantage of their high tuneability to create specific adsorption sites that are associated for capturing CO2. Adsorption is a process that occurs when a gas or liquid binds to the surface of a solid or liquid (the adsorbent) and forms a molecular or atomic film (the adsorbate).
The MOF4AIR project is being led by the University of Mons in Belgium and gather fourteen partners from across eight countries. The Norwegian contingent in the project team is made up of both TCM and SINTEF Industry. All partners worked together to develop the CO2 capture process with MOFs from material synthesis at lab scale to the industrial pilot scale. TCM is one of the three demonstration sites where the performance of MOF-based carbon adsorption will be demonstrated for the first time in real operation with CO2-containing flue gas from Equinor’s refinery at Mongstad through a six-month test campaign. The objective of the campaign is to capture 90 per cent CO2 and achieve more than 90 per cent purity with relatively low energy consumption. “The results from Lab scale test were promising and we are really looking forward to see the performance of MOFs at this industrial scale with live flue gas” says CO2 Capture Technologist Ahmad Wakaa, who is leading the MOF4AIR project at TCM.
Next, Solheim takes us to see the unit put in place for ACCSESS, the programme that forms a part of the EU’s commitment to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. SINTEF Energy is the coordinator of ACCSESS project. The technology used in ACCSESS project is CO2 solutions technology by Saipem combined with a novel and compact rotary packed bed (RPB) absorber developed by Prospin. CO2 solutions technology is a non-amine, non-toxic enzyme enhanced solvent for capturing CO2. The ACCSESS campaign at TCM will first consist of a month of testing CO2 capture from one of the flue gases at TCM with Saipem’s CO2 solutions with the pilot conventional configuration (i.e absorber and stripper columns). A second phase of two months testing where the conventional absorber column will be replaced by the rotary packed bed (RPB).
Solheim then opens the door to what he describes as “the holiest sanctuary” where there is a closed container housing the rotating packed bed (RPB). “The purpose of the test at our New Site for Emerging Technologies is to integrate the RPB absorber into the existing capture process. If this is successful, we will have taken an important step forward in seeking to reduce the environmental disadvantages of capturing CO2,” says Solheim.
Once testing campaign at Mongstad is completed, the plan is to transfer the unit to pulp and Paper Mills in Sweden and then to Heidelberg Materials’ cement factory in Poland for further testing as a part of the ACCSESS project..
“Test at TCM will mark the first use of the RPB in the ACCSESS system. Successful testing will be a big milestone for the ACCSESS project, and an important step forward to reduce CO2 emission,” says CO2 Capture Technologist Ahmad Wakaa, who is leading the ACCSESS project at TCM.
TCM’s New Site for Emerging Technologies is a hub for testing new technologies which are less mature than conventional amine-based carbon capture. In the case of both MOF4AIR and ACCSESS, development has progressed to such an extent following testing at Mongstad that a Technology Readiness Level of 6 and 7 (European scale) will be reached for each project respectively.
“We are doing our best to ensure that they succeed,” promise Ahmad Wakaa and Roger Solheim.
“Norway and the United States have a common goal to make technology for capturing CO2 available to industry worldwide.
A number of American companies have tested technologies at TCM, and the meetings we had in the Department of Energy (DoE) and at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) confirmed to us that they are very interested in developing this collaboration.
TCM’s Managing Director, Muhammad Ismail Shah, and Chairman, Svein Ingar Semb, went on a one-week trip “across the pond” in March to discuss possible projects for further collaboration with representatives of the US authorities and central CCS actors.
“The timing of our visit was good, because the Biden administration, through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), is providing for large-scale investment in carbon capture and storage in order to reach its climate goals. Back in 2009, Norway and the USA signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on cooperation in the energy field, in which CCS projects are highlighted as an important area of work. We have been largely successful in this – among other things, TCM has facilitated test campaigns for commercial suppliers and for technology development under the auspices of research-based institutions. So we have a good basis for developing cooperation within TCM’s core business.”
At the DoE meetings, Shah and Semb met with the leadership team in the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). FECM has been contributing funding for several years to the development of capture technologies at TRL (Technology Readiness Level) 6, several of which have been tested at TCM to scale up to TRL 7.
“Their feedback is that this collaboration has worked well, and that the testing at our facilities and the expertise we offer provide value for money. They want to work more closely with us, not least to strengthen knowledge about emissions where amine-based technologies are used. We will be notified when they have completed the process of planning their upcoming testing activities, and we were also invited to present the findings from our open test campaigns at a conference in August,” Shah says.
The task of OCED is to demonstrate full-scale capture and storage of CO2 at six different demo plants with technologies at TRL 7 and higher. “OCED is a new office which was established last autumn. TCM has not been in discussions with representatives from this office before, and it was useful to establish a relationship and talk about what we can offer by way of opportunities and services, which can help them succeed with their demo projects.”
From the ministry offices in Washington, Shah and Semb went on to the small town of Wilsonville in Alabama, which is the location of the National Carbon Capture Center. This testing centre is financed by the US government through the DoE and industrial players, including TotalEnergies, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and others. The NCCC has approx. 100 employees and the level of activity is high.
“For the authorities, the NCCC is a central instrument for driving forward the development of new capture technologies. But the facility is smaller than TCM and technologies being tested have a lower maturity level (TRL 6). In other words, TCM allows the Americans to test and verify technologies in physical environments that are a notch closer to full-scale capture. But for both parties, closer cooperation and exchange of knowledge can provide significant benefits in accelerating the scale-up of carbon capture technologies.”
Svein Ingar Semb says that they talked about developments in the Longship project both during the meetings in Washington and at the NCCC.
“The fact that little Norway is now realising a fully-fledged value chain for capture and storage of CO2 is viewed with great interest and is gaining recognition. When the Americans eventually make plans for projects on the same scale, learning from Longship will probably be used. This would include regulatory matters relating to the transport of CO2 across national borders, where similar issues could arise for transport between states. In sum, we have a lot to learn from each other and to collaborate on, both in the development of cost-effective capture technologies and in the realisation of CCS projects that the world needs.”
“TCM demonstrates that the technologies the world needs to capture CO2 are performing at their very best. Now that the green transition is gaining momentum, it is vital that the world-leading expertise in our possession is put to use. 2023 will see us carry out five test campaigns, which will mark a new all-time high for us.”
Those were the words of TCM Managing Director Muhammad Ismail Shah during a meeting with Storting member Linda Monsen Merkesdal and deputy representative Benjamin Jakobsen held at TCM on Monday 20 March. The two Labour parliamentarians had made the trip to TCM together with a delegation of local representatives from the municipalities of Alver and Austrheim, led by Austrheim mayor Per Lerøy (Labour). Einar Vaage, a project manager with Greenspot Mongstad, took the initiative to set the meeting up.
During the encounter, Shah explained the importance testing at TCM has had for the realisation of the two plants now under construction in Norway that will allow full-scale carbon capture (at Heidelberg Materials’s cement factory in Brevik and the Hafslund Oslo Celsio waste incineration plant, respectively). Internationally, technology testing at TCM has also proven to be decisive for which suppliers are awarded contracts for large CCS projects.
“The Norwegian government was responsible for financing the construction of the world’s largest and most flexible centre for testing capture technologies. It is safe to say that TCM has proven to be a gift to the world,” Shah said.
“This gift would never have come to fruition for us at TCM or the Norwegian nation as a whole had it not been for far-sighted politicians who identified that carbon capture and storage is a key part of efforts to meet global climate goals. Our politicians, regardless of who has been in government, have also stuck to their priorities – even in the years when CCS has been sailing against the prevailing current.”
Shah emphasised that Norwegian industry and Norway as a whole are now profiting from this pioneering approach, not least through the realisation of the projects that constitute Longship.
“Despite reductions in our budgets, we have managed to increase levels of activity, both as a result of those coming to test technologies paying a larger portion of the costs that entails, and because we are working more efficiently than in the early days. This year, a total of five test campaigns will be carried out at the facility, compared to just a couple a year as was previously the case.” Shah added “This is a new all-time high for us.”
TCM has been operational since 2012 and is underwritten by guarantees from the state and its industry-based owners to ensure operation over the first five years and then for two subsequent three-year periods. The current operating period will expire at the turn of the year. Negotiations are now underway between the state and TCM’s other owners (Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies) about what the future will bring.
“The message from me and my colleagues at TCM is clear,” said Muhammad Ismail Shah. “There will be a need both for further testing and improvement of the mature technologies based on amine, which, for example, will be used in the Longship projects, and for the development of completely new and more cost-effective technologies. CCS has come a long way, but the best is yet to come! TCM has the facilities needed to drive technology development forward, and we have the expertise to provide training to personnel who will operate full-scale facilities and to help solve technical problems that crop up. In other words: TCM is the key to the continued progression of CCS.”
