20 September 2021

Aker Carbon Capture plans to capture 10Mt of CO2 annually 

Aker’s green initiative, Aker Carbon Capture, aims to have an annual carbon capture of 10 million tonnes of CO2 by the end of 2025, corresponding to a fifth of Norway’s carbon 2020 emissions. Four focus areas have been identified as having potential customers for Aker’s CCS services – cement production, waste incineration plants, gas-fired power plants, and “blue” hydrogen production. A modular approach similar to a subscription model is envisioned, where customers pay per tonne of CO2 that Aker captures, transports, and stores (MSN).

H2 Green Steel acquires Olof Hernell as new CDO

Olof Hernell leaves EQT for his new position as Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at H2 Green Steel that aims to produce fossil-free steel. The new role is a “borderland between opportunity and duty,” said Olof Hernell, referring to the CO2 emissions from the steel industry that amount to 8% of the global emissions. Hernell says that H2 Green Steel needs to undergo a digital transformation that is applicable in four segments – the product, the business model, sales and marketing, and operations. Primarily the focus lies in the product segment, where the goal is to accumulate data early on regarding manufacturing defects, and through machine learning enable H2 Green Steel to source product defects back to the faulty steel-making process. However, shifting from a licencing model to an “as a service” model and improving B2B sales and marketing are also highlighted as important functions to digitalise the new organisation (Dagens Industri).

HeidelbergCement CCS project at Górazdze cement plant

German-based HeidelbergCement will partner with Norway-based researchers, Sintef Energi, to install a pilot Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) system that stores CO2 from its Górazdze cement facility in Poland into Nordic storage reservoirs. The system fields a new enzyme-based CCS technology which they claim enables a better use of waste heat and simplified control of secondary emissions. The consortium has received €15 million from EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and aims to deploy the pilot project by April 2025 (global cement).

Minesto launch Dragon Class product range for commercial scale-up

Marine energy developer, Minesto has launched an upgraded design of its power plants for generating renewable electricity from tidal and ocean currents. By using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling and ocean scale model testing, Minesto has been able to increase performance by improving energy conversion and the number of required power plant subsystems and components. Additionally, decreased manufacturing costs and customisable plants make the Dragon Class design commercially scalable (press release).

Ørsted signs power purchase agreement with German supermarket chain

Denmark’s Ørsted has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement with German Rewe Group to deliver 100 MW of green electricity from the Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The wind farm situated in the German part of the North Sea, is set to be operational in 2025 and has a capacity to export 900 MW. This is the Rewe Group’s largest procurement of renewable energy and is expected to power 1,500 stores (Npinvestor, press release). 

What we are reading 

• Greenhouse gas levels going ‘in the wrong direction’, UN report card shows (UNFCCC)

• UK scrambles to contain gas price crisis (Financial Times)

• UK energy groups in emergency talks with government over natural gas crisis (Financial Times)

• UK PM puts chances of securing $100bn in financial promises for upcoming COP26 summit at ‘6 out of 10’ (Financial Times)

• Doing Good or Feeling Good? Detecting Greenwashing in Climate Investing (California News Times)

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