Vattenfall - Develop carbon capture

Develop concepts for capturing and storing carbon dioxide

Vattenfall’s project on CCS is aimed at developing techniques for the capture of carbon dioxide from coal combustion.

The CO₂ from the plant can then be compressed into liquid form and stored deep underground at a depth of about 1 km. Our goal is to achieve a commercial concept by 2020. This demands development and extensive testing of the techniques in Test rigs, Pilot plants and Demonstration plants before being used in commercial plant.

Schwarze Pumpe Pilot Plant

The groundbreaking ceremony for our 30 MW Oxyfuel thermal pilot plant for carbon dioxide capture was held in Schwarze Pumpe, Germany, on 29 May 2006. The pilot plant was inaugurated in September 2008. The construction of this 30 MW thermal pilot plant is an important milestone for Vattenfall's project on CCS (Carbon capture and storage). All the accumulated carbon dioxide capture knowledge is to be validated and tested in the pilot plant. The test results will also be used for better understanding of the dynamics of the oxyfuel combustion and desulphurisation processes, as well as for optimising the process.

Demonstration plants

Vattenfall is also planning a number of demonstration plants that will make it possible to further validate the CCS technology The plants will include all three components of the CCS concept; capture at the power plant, transport and a storage site. The sites for these demonstration plants are Mongstad in Norway, Nordjylland in Denmark and Jänschwalde in Germany.

For more information on Vattenfall's initiative on carbon capture storage:

Vattenfall's project site on CCS - (new window)