Norway – The first carbon capture pilot for smelters in the world has now been formally launched. The Rana factory of Elkem, which manufactures high-purity ferrosilicon and microsilica, is now connected to the Mobile Test Unit (MTU) that Aker Carbon Capture provided.

Elkem, Mo Industripark, SMA Mineral, SINTEF, Alcoa, Celsa Group, Ferroglobe PLC, Norcem AS, NorFraKalk AS, ACT Cluster, and Aker Carbon Capture are working together on the carbon capture pilot testing. 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 can be absorbed from their total emissions under full implementation. Testing at SMA Mineral will start in a few months.

Testing the concept

The pilot test is a component of the CO2 HUB Nord R&D project, a two-year endeavor supported by Climit Demo. To prepare a full-scale unit for industrial carbon capture, the project’s primary objective is to test the concept using actual industrial gases from smelters and other process industries.

The CO2-HUB Nord promotes innovation and industrialisation of the carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) value chain through the development and verification of new carbon capture technology. The industrialization of such technology is viewed as a key factor in lowering CO2 emissions and achieving the world’s sustainability objectives.