On Wednesday, September 18, we inaugurated our brand-new facility that, as the first of its kind in the world, makes it possible to both capture CO2 from the industrial and energy sectors’ greenhouse gases and produce green hydrogen in the same process. This technology could be the missing piece in the green transition of the industry.
It is a genuine world-first being presented in Odense at VandCenter Syd. As the first of its kind in the world, our socalled CAPPOW technology combines CO2 capture with Power-to-X in a single process. The facility thus enables the conversion of CO2 from, for example, biogas and production plants into biofuels by regenerating the captured CO2 and the produced hydrogen.
“This is the culmination of several years of development for our company. We hope and believe that it will be a milestone not only for us as a company but, in all modesty, also for Denmark’s green transition,” says ESTECH’s CEO, Søren G. Larsen.
The technology, called CAPPOW, is notable for its ability to capture flue gas, clean it, and then split the CO2-saturated liquid from the flue gas cleaning into CO2, oxygen, and hydrogen via electrolysis. The customer segment is essentially any company that emits CO2 and has access to green electricity, such as biogas plants, combined heat and power plants, and manufacturing companies. The plant can be scaled up or down as needed, making it adaptable to both smaller and larger CO2 emitters.
“CAPPOW will be relevant for virtually any company with a chimney, especially because the technology offers a different business case than a traditional CO2 capture plant. With our technology, flue gas can be converted into valuable resources such as biofuels,” explains Søren G. Larsen.
Carbon capture, utility and storage (CCUS) is often mentioned as a key tool for achieving climate goals in both the Paris Agreement and Denmark’s 70% reduction target by 2030. Recently, Copenhagen has allocated 450 million DKK for CO2 capture. However, the necessary large-scale plants to capture the required amounts are still missing. Here, CAPPOW technology could prove to be the missing piece of the puzzle.
The facility is a near-full-scale plant located at Vandcenter Syd in Odense. It is also Denmark’s largest CO2 capture facility to date.
ESTECH’s CAPPOW technology combines two otherwise separate processes: CO2 capture and hydrogen production via electrolysis (Power-to-X), which is powered by electricity. The advantage of combining these two processes is threefold:
The hydrogen produced can be used directly as fuel or in the industry, and it can also be further converted into green ammonia, methanol, or methane. The captured CO2, after cleaning, will contain at least 99% pure CO2. It can then be compressed into tanks and sold directly for use in carbonated beverages such as beer and soda.
The technology’s development began in 2019 under the name CAPPOW, a contraction of the words Carbon Capture and Power-to-X. Now, the facility is complete, and the testing phase has begun. Data will be collected throughout the year, and the results will be continuously analyzed, evaluated and optimized.
On the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale—a method of estimating the maturity of new technologies on a scale from 1 to 9, with 9 indicating a proven and competitive technology ready for production—the CAPPOW technology currently stands at 7.5.
Learn more at www.estech.dk/technology
ESTECH
