For the construction of a carbon capture facility at Finnsementti’s Lappeenranta cement plant, Aker Carbon Capture will provide a pre-engineering study to the energy firm St1.
The first renewable synthetic methanol facility in Finland would use the captured CO2. The Just Catch unit from Aker Carbon Capture could capture about 40,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, allowing the production of 25,000 tonnes of methanol.
The world’s first carbon capture facility is now being built by Aker Carbon Capture at Norcem’s cement plant in Brevik, Norway. Aker Carbon Capture will incorporate lessons learned from this project into the research for the Finnsementti carbon capture plant.
Valborg Lundegaard, Chief Executive Officer at Aker Carbon Capture said, “We are excited to enter the Finnish market and deliver a study for the promising Power-to-X market. Renewable synthetic methanol can replace fossil fuels used in maritime and road transport.
“We are dedicated to help decarbonize the hard-to-abate cement industry through our proven and proprietary carbon capture technology. Finland has a strong ambition to go climate neutral by 2035, and we are ready to support Finnish industry on its decarbonization journey.”
The majority of methanol generated today on an industrial scale comes from natural gas, which is reformated with steam before being converted and distilled to make pure methanol. The hard-to-abate carbon dioxide emissions from the limestone raw material at the Finnsementti industry would be used in the synthetic methanol manufacturing facility in Lappeenranta.
Low-carbon hydrogen produced through electrolysis using water and wind energy is the other raw material required. E-methanol is created through the synthesis of low-carbon hydrogen and collected carbon.