Aker Carbon Capture ASA: Second quarter 2023 results

In the second quarter 2023, Aker Carbon Capture secured a contract with Ørsted with a total value of more than EUR 200 million, representing the company’s largest order intake to date. Aker Carbon Capture’s order backlog rose to NOK 3.3 billion, up from NOK 1.7 billion the same period last year. Revenues rose to NOK 305 million, up 57% compared to the same period last year. The cash position at the end of the quarter was solid at NOK 1.1 billion.

The contract with Ørsted includes the delivery of five modular Just Catch 100 units and additional equipment with a total design capacity to capture 500,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The delivery of five units is a milestone for Just Catch serial production, enabling scale-up and time-efficient deployment. Ørsted’s Kalundborg CCS Hub project represents Denmark’s first full carbon capture value chain, capturing biogenic CO2. In addition to support from the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), the project has been enabled by the close collaboration between Ørsted, Aker Carbon Capture and Microsoft, which was established in March 2021. Microsoft will purchase several million tonnes of high-quality carbon removal credits from Ørsted, which represents one of the world's largest carbon removal offtake agreements by volume to date. 

“We’re truly proud of being able to help build the first full-scale carbon capture and storage value chain in Denmark together with Ørsted, Microsoft and Northern Lights. This will be an important contribution to Denmark’s climate targets. Delivering five modular Just Catch 100 units is a milestone for the serial production of carbon capture units, enabling cost-efficient and fast delivery. Modularization is already an accelerator of our industry, proven by our ongoing delivery of seven carbon capture units across several industry sectors. We are making carbon capture happen,” said Egil Fagerland, Chief Financial Officer at Aker Carbon Capture.

The company’s other flagship projects, Brevik CCS and Twence CCU, continued to progress in the quarter and are currently the most mature large-scale carbon capture projects under construction in Europe. Aker Carbon Capture is now delivering seven carbon capture units: the five Just Catch 100 units to Ørsted, the Just Catch 100 unit to Twence and a Big Catch delivery to Heidelberg Materials.

The standardized and modular Just Catch offering will play an important role in the Ørsted Kalundborg CCS Hub project. Aker Carbon Capture is continuously strengthening its range of offerings; recently the company launched a more compact and energy-efficient third generation Just Catch 100, and it is today introducing the Just Catch 400, a modular unit that can capture 400,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The company’s modular plant offering also supports the potential for further cost and delivery time benefits from serial production as this market develops.

In the second quarter, Aker Carbon Capture continued to make headway in new markets and new industries. The company won its first strategic study in the United States, which is an important stepping stone in its market entry. The study will cover biogenic emissions, targeting 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, including an assessment of two Just Catch 100 units. In Sweden, Aker Carbon Capture secured a study to Söderenergi to help decarbonize the country’s second-largest biomass combined heat and power plant. This project offers the potential to capture 500,000 tonnes of biogenic emissions from Söderenergi’s facility at Igelstaverket, close to Stockholm. Finally, the company secured two Just Catch Offshore studies, including one for Petoro’s Power Hub in Norway, targeting 720,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. 

In the quarter, the company concluded its Mobile Test Unit (MTU) campaign and validated its technology at Elkem’s smelter and SMA Mineral’s calciner, achieving high capture rates. It also joined the EU-funded Aurora project to test its proprietary technology with the CESAR1 solvent at the Heracles cement plant in Greece and Umicore materials recycling plant in Belgium. 

Aker Carbon Capture aims to take a leading position in the global CCUS industry, and the company has launched a long-term goal of '10 in 25', which states that the company will have secured contracts for carbon capture plants for a total of 10 million tonnes per year by the end of 2025.

Financial results

Aker Carbon Capture saw continued revenue growth through the second quarter. Revenues reached NOK 305 million in the period, compared to NOK 194 million in the same period last year. The increase in revenues was mainly driven by progress on Big Catch and Just Catch projects, and ongoing FEEDs, pre-FEEDs, studies and MTU campaigns.

EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) in the second quarter was negative NOK 53 million, compared to negative NOK 49 million in the same period last year. While Big Catch and Just Catch projects delivered positive contributions, the overall negative EBITDA in the period was driven by high sales, tender and R&D activity.

Aker Carbon Capture ended the second quarter with a solid NOK 1.1 billion cash position, and NOK 0.8 billion in equity. The order backlog closed at NOK 3.3 billion.

ENDS

Aker Carbon Capture will present the results in an audiocast, followed by a live Q&A session, today at 15:00 CEST. Click on the following link to follow the event: https://channel.royalcast.com/hegnarmedia/#!/hegnarmedia/20230711_3