Oslo, Norway – Elkem has completed its first carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot at its plant in Lana, Norway. The pilot recorded up to 95% CO2 capture rates, demonstrating the technical feasibility of CCS in a smelter.
Trond S Terstad, Director of Climate at Elkem, said: "We are delighted to have completed the first CCS pilot at our Rana site. Our high 95% capture rate, combined with low amine degradation, demonstrates the technical effectiveness of this technology. The challenge now is to strengthen the business case for CCS and make it commercially viable in an industry with global competition. ”
The flue gas CO2 concentration in silicon smelters fluctuates and is low. The success of capturing CO2 in the pilot provides valuable lessons for future development. The CCS pilot ran for about 3,000 hours between November 2022 and June 2023.
The important lessons learned from this pilot have helped us understand how to optimize our plants for possible future carbon capture," says S Terstad.
Carbon capture has been incorporated into Elkem's climate strategy, which aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Elkem's goal is to be part of the solution to climate change. Our mission is to provide advanced material solutions that shape a better, more sustainable future. We will use the results of this pilot to continue to refine the technical and commercial aspects of future CCS implementations. Reducing implementation costs and attracting competitive framework conditions are also key components of this process. Trond S Terstad said.
The project, which is financially supported by Gassnova Climit, is a collaboration between Elkem and Mo Industripark, Sintef, Alcoa, Celsa, Ferroglobe, SMA Mineral, Norcem, Norfrakalk, Arctic Cluster Team and Aker Carbon Capture.