
The two companies have formed a partnership to jointly develop, build, and operate a carbon capture facility outside of Copenhagen in Denmark. The facility is expected to capture 500,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, through its Energy Transition Fund I (CI ETF I), in partnership with Vestforbrænding, Denmark’s largest waste to energy company, has entered into an investment agreement and a joint venture agreement to establish a joint venture aimed at jointly developing, building, and operating a carbon capture facility in Glostrup, Denmark. CI ETF I will hold a majority stake in the joint venture in the construction and operational phase. Additionally, a flue gas agreement has been signed, with Vestforbrænding providing the flue gas and the joint venture company serving as the CO2-capture service provider.
The facility is expected to capture approximately 500,000 tonnes of CO2 from Vestforbrænding’s waste to energy plant which will be transported for permanent geological storage, with a portion contributing to Vestforbrænding's carbon neutrality targets and the remainder for corporate offtakers to support climate action. The emission savings correspond to ~11% of the total annual emissions in 2021 for the Greater Copenhagen area.
The Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) project will support the target of the Danish government to permanently store 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 and 34 million tonnes of CO2 by 2045. The project is further expected to be supported by contracted revenues under long-term agreements from the sale of high-quality carbon removal certificates (CRCs) based on biogenic CO2 captured from the energy recovery process of residual waste. Additionally, waste heat recovered from carbon capture is expected to be delivered to the district heating network, benefiting the local municipalities. Buyers of the project’s carbon removal certificates will thus contribute to the safe handling of residual waste in addition to affordable clean energy for the local communities, which represents a unique offtake opportunity for corporates targeting climate leadership to address residual emissions.
The project will be an important step for Vestforbrænding to significantly reduce carbon emissions from their waste incineration through the utilization of CCS-technology.
'It is imperative for Vestforbrænding and our owners, that we reduce our direct climate and environmental impact to a minimum. This is why our board has set a goal for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. We are dedicated to achieving this, and with this partnership with CIP, we are even more hopeful. Now our focus is our cooperation with CIP, so that the two parties can work hard and closely on establishing a carbon capture facility at Vestforbrænding. Achieving this will be a substantial contribution to achieving Denmark’s climate targets,' said Steen Neuchs Vedel, CEO at Vestforbrænding.
'Capturing CO2 is important to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions in parallel with other decarbonization technologies. We firmly believe that together with a strong partner like Vestforbrænding, we will make a valuable contribution to achieving the Danish decarbonization targets and to further maturing the industry. The partnership with Vestforbrænding has enabled CIP to enhance its experience within carbon capture which can be leveraged across the fund,' said Søren Toftgaard, partner at CIP.
The realization of the project is subject to execution of a series of project agreements and is ultimately contingent upon securing a subsidy from the Danish CCS fund, administered by the Danish Energy Agency, and obtaining approval from the competent authorities under the Danish Investment Screening Act.
Source: CIP