Kicked off a 400 million EU project and construction of a pilot at Herøya
Great atmosphere at the kick-off event in Porsgrunn. Around 100 partners of the 400 million NOK EU funded PYROCO2 project, met to mark the launch.
Eli Aamot, executive director of SINTEF Industri, spoke about the pilot plant to be built at Herøya during the kick-off for the PYROCO2 project in Ælvespeilet, Porsgrunn yesterday.
The main objective for PYROCO2 is to build a pilot plant at Herøya to demonstrate scalable and profitable production of the chemical acetone based on CO2 as raw material and renewable energy.
The project is described as a "game changer" for the industry, contributing to zero emissions and a sustainable economy.
In the plant, CO2-eating bacteria will turn CO2 into acetone, a chemical that can be used to make plastics and other products. PYROCO2 is a so-called CCU (Carbon Capture Utilization) project.
The facility will play a key role in promoting more "CCU Hubs" in Europe.
SINTEF Industri coordinates the PYROCO2 project, which is supported by the EU's Horizon2020 program with NOK 400 million. The project consists of an industry-driven consortium, 20 partners from 11 countries. The project started in autumn 2021 and will last for five years.
Ready for Green Deal: Eli Aamot, executive director SINTEF Industri, Jean-Luc Dubois, ARKEMA, France, Sverre Gotaas, CEO Herøya Industripark AS and Chris Bolesta, CCUS head The European Commission are ready for Green Deal together with 20 partners from 11 countries.
"At Herøya Industripark, with industry expert Rolf Olaf Larsen at the head, we have developed Pilot arena Herøya where we are offering an industrial environment for the scaleup and development of industrial technologies and processes," explained Sverre Gotaas Herøya Industripark AS.
"We have established pilot scale studies of more than 40 different companies and processes during the last years. We have close collaborations with R&D institutions and Universities to support the scale-up projects. One of the strategic directions for Herøya Industripark AS is to develop an attractive arena for industrialization of promising research results. We are involved in different EU/H2020 initiatives and is currently hosting other pilot scale projects," says Gotaas.
Lunch break: from left Rolf Olaf Larsen, pilot expert at Herøya Industripark AS/partner, Geir Morten Johansen, Vestfold Telemark Fylkeskommune (County representative), Stig Roaas, Nippon Gases and Thor Kamfjord, Norner/partner.
Terje Riis Johansen, county mayor of Vestfold Telemark, opened the PYROCO2 event. "I just came from Herøya, where Vianode launched its battery venture, is investing billions, and is starting to build new green industry there. For me, Herøya is a natural choice for new green industry, and I am very pleased to see that Herøya has been chosen as the location to build the PYROCO2 pilot. The experience and expertise found at Herøya in the process industry is enormous, especially in hydrogen and chemicals. Herøya functions as a technology laboratory for academia and companies, not only in Norway but also for Europe. I believe that access to academia, renewable energy and now potential CO2 capture can help create value for this project."
Facts
The project will establish a platform for CCU as part of the Herøya industrial park. Herøya, located in Porsgrunn, houses some of the most carbon-intensive industrial players in Norway. The project will benefit from the ongoing large-scale activities in carbon capture and storage and will have access to up to 100 percent renewable electricity to run the processes.
The PyroCO2 project aims to establish itself as a beacon for innovative CCU technologies that benefit European industries, citizens, and not least the environment, on the road to a climate-neutral Europe.
The PYROCO2 project addresses the Green Deal call topic LC-GD-3-1-2020 - Closing the industrial carbon cycle to combat climate change - Industrial feasibility of catalytic routes for sustainable alternatives to fossil resources, and has received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 101037009.
Text/photo: Siri Krohn-Fagervoll siri@krohnfagervoll.no
