Energy-from-Waste (EfW) operator enfinium signed an agreement – on 19 March – with green technology company Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) to install the UK’s first carbon capture pilot plant at an EfW facility.
The technology supplied by HZI will be a scaled-down, containerised version of the CCS technology that the firm says could be applied to energy-from-waste facilities on a commercial scale. The unit will capture up to one tonne of CO2 per day from enfinium’s operations at its Ferrybridge-1 site, in West Yorkshire. The trial will run for at least 12 months and will apparently be operational from July 2024.
The aims of the pilot is to demonstrate the use of carbon capture technology at EfW facilities. “Through the pilot, enfinium will be able to compare different amine solvents and collect realistic data on performance, such as CO2 capture rate, energy consumption, and solvent degradation,” said an announcement.
“The pilot builds on enfinium’s broader ambitions to lead an investment of up to £800 million in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) at its Ferrybridge 1 & 2 facilities, which together would capture over 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 every year.1 With CCS installed, the UK’s largest energy-from-waste site would become one of the largest carbon removal projects in Europe.”2
Mike Maudsley, CEO of enfinium, said: “Installing carbon capture technology on energy from waste facilities is the only way the UK can decarbonise its unrecyclable waste. It also offers benefits including creating durable carbon removals, or negative emissions, at scale and generating reliable homegrown carbon negative power.
This ground-breaking partnership with HZI will allow us to test multiple capture techniques that could in the future be deployed across our facilities at scale.”
Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin, CEO of HZI, added:“It gives us tremendous pride that with the support of the UK authorities and thanks to a strong collaboration with enfinium, we have the opportunity to help move the dial on the nation’s decarbonisation of its waste management infrastructure.
The pilot will contribute significantly to our carbon capture knowledge base, which we are developing across several projects in Europe, and represents an important step not only towards to reducing CO2 emissions in our industry, but also towards making CO2 circular and driving down demand for fossil resources globally.”
Minister for Investment and Regulatory Reform, Lord Dominic Johnson said:“The Government is making sure the UK continues to be an attractive choice for green investment, creating jobs and opportunities across the country as we transition to net zero.
“I’m delighted enfinium with HZI has chosen the UK for this pilot project – another win for our country and a huge step to enabling the decarbonisation of the UK’s unrecyclable waste.”
Today’s announcement is the latest development in enfinium’s strategic partnership with HZI, who have provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to enfinium’s Ferrybridge 1 and 2 facilities. HZI is also acting as the EPC partner on enfinium’s £500m Skelton Grange facility in Leeds, which is due to be operational from 2025.
Notes
[1] enfinium, ‘enfinium announces plans for up to £800m investment in carbon capture project’, December 2023, available here: https://enfinium.co.uk/enfinium-announces-plans-for-up-to-800m-investment-in-carbon-capture-project/
[2] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that biogenic matter (of which half of energy from waste feedstock is) is carbon neutral at the point of combustion. Therefore, if you capture and permanently store carbon dioxide that was taken from the atmosphere as the biogenic material grew, it results in a net carbon removal from the atmosphere or ‘negative emissions’.
