Stockholm Exergi Awarded $1.8 Billion by Sweden for Bio-energy Carbon Removal and Storage Project
Swedish energy company Stockholm Exergi announced today that it has been awarded support for bio-CCS, a technology that captures biogenic carbon dioxide before it reaches the atmosphere, through a reverse auction by the Swedish Energy Agency, with granted support of SEK 20 billion (USD$1.8 billion), to be paid out over up to 15 years.
According to Stockholm Exergi, the new support forms an important part of the financing for its bio-CCS project, anticipated to capture 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Anders Egelrud, CEO of Stockholm Exergi, said:
“This is a much-awaited announcement that we have worked hard for. The support is a prerequisite for us to be able to build Europe’s largest facility for capturing biogenic carbon dioxide.”
Stockholm Exergi is planning to build a bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) facility at its bio-cogeneration plant at Värtan, Stockholm.
The facility aims to bring together the bioenergy-based combined heat and power plant fueled by residues from forestry, sawmill and pulp and paper production, with a carbon capture and storage process that captures CO2 in the plant’s flue gases, and cools and compresses it into liquid form, for transport and permanent storage in sedimentary bedrock below the North Sea floor, where the liquid CO2 mineralizes over time.
Stockholm Exergi received an environmental permit for its BECCS facility earlier last year, and is expected to make an investment decision as soon as possible in 2025, with carbon capture to begin within three years. At 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, the plant would capture more than what Stockholm’s road traffic emits annually.
The facility has already attracted large-scale carbon removal offtake agreements with Microsoft and carbon removal coalition Frontier on behalf of buyers including Alphabet, Meta, JPMorgan Chase, and H&M, among others.
Egelrud added:
“The government’s investment in bio-CCS together with private financing from climate-ambitious companies means the starting point for a new green industry. The foundation is now being laid for Sweden and the EU to be able to achieve their long-term climate goals, while companies are given a real opportunity to reach net zero by entering into agreements with us to purchase permanent minus emissions”