Aker Carbon Capture awarded study and test campaign from Wacker

Aker Carbon Capture has been awarded a feasibility study and an eight-months test campaign to explore the capture of CO2 emissions from WACKER’s metallurgical-grade silicon production at the Holla plant in Kyrksæterøra, Norway. The German multinational chemical group has set a goal to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and be net zero by 2045.

Silicon metal is one of WACKER’s most important raw materials for producing two key products in its portfolio: silicones and hyperpure polysilicon. Currently, the silicon metal produced in Holla covers around one-third of demand at WACKER’s sites in Germany.

“We are proud to collaborate with WACKER, a pioneer of modern chemistry, on their journey towards net zero. The test campaign will provide valuable learning for implementation of our carbon capture technology in a new industry. Additionally, the feasibility study will explore commercial application of the technology at the Holla plant”, said Tove Ormevik, Director Delivery Functions and Aftermarket at Aker Carbon Capture. “Together, we see carbon capture as a significant opportunity to reduce Norway’s CO2 emissions", she continued.

Reducing emissions from the process industry is an important contributor to meeting the Norwegian climate target of 55% GHG emissions reduction by 2030 relative to 1990 levels. According to Statistics Norway the process industry represents approximately 20% of the total Norwegian GHG emissions, with 12 million CO2e in 2022. The European Commission recently presented a 90% net GHG emissions reduction proposal compared to 1990 levels as the recommended target for 2040. Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is a solution to significantly reduce emissions from hard-to-abate sectors, such as cement, waste incineration, bioenergy, and other process industries. 

Aker Carbon Capture’s Mobile Test Unit is a complete CO2 capture plant that includes the company’s advanced carbon capture technology, meaning that the results from test campaigns are scalable towards large scale plants. It is transportable, flexible and can operate on different flue gases. Aker Carbon Capture has more than 35,000 operating hours on different flue gases around the world.

ENDS