Aker Carbon Capture selected by Viridor as partner on pre-FEED study for Runcorn CCS

Aker Carbon Capture will support Viridor in the provision of a pre-FEED study for the Runcorn CCS project, which is located around 20 km from Liverpool. When in operation, the facility will be one of the first large scale carbon capture projects at an energy-from-waste facility in the world. The pre-FEED study explores the installation of a carbon capture plant in the HyNet cluster, part of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Track 1 sequencing process, capturing around 1 million tonnes CO2 per annum.

“We are delighted to partner with Viridor on this exciting project that could realize major emission reductions in a hard to abate sector. Viridor is the largest waste company in the UK. Given its ambitious decarbonization targets, it can play an instrumental role in helping reach Britain’s climate goals, and together we see CCS as a great opportunity to create green jobs in the UK,” said Valborg Lundegaard, Chief Executive Officer at Aker Carbon Capture.

Viridor has a publicly committed plan to become the first net zero waste company by 2040 by implementing CCUS and the extraction of plastic from residual waste streams for more circular recycling.

Kevin Bradshaw, Chief Executive Officer at Viridor, commented: “Our vision for Viridor is to be the UK’s leading innovator in resource recovery and recycling to deliver a climate positive future. This collaboration with Aker Carbon Capture to bring our combined focus on the delivery of CCUS at Runcorn targets a significant milestone in realizing that vision.”

This collaboration builds on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that Viridor and Aker Carbon Capture signed last year. In this MOU, both parties announced plans to help the UK accelerate its decarbonization agenda through a partnership for next-generation CCS.

Energy from waste with CCS could play a leading role in the UK’s decarbonization efforts. If all facilities in the UK were fitted with CCS, approximately five million tonnes of negative emissions could be stored each year. At Runcorn CCS, around half of the waste originates from biogenic sources, enabling half a million tonnes of negative emissions, effectively removing these from the atmosphere.  

“The potential to implement CCS at energy-from-waste facilities in the UK and help deliver deep decarbonization is massive. Today, Aker Carbon Capture is already building a carbon capture facility at Twence’s waste to energy plant in the Netherlands, a first-of-a-kind standardized design. At the Runcorn facility, Viridor will benefit from modularity in the Aker Carbon Capture Big Catch portfolio, reducing complexity and cost,” concludes Lundegaard.

ENDS