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Crown Prince Haakon opens new CO2 research lab

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway on Thursday April 29 opened a new CO2 research and development facility at SINTEF. The new test facility aims to develop more effective carbon capture solvents.

From the opening. Crown Prince Haakon flanked by Nils Røkke, Director of Climate Research, and Unni Steinsmo, CEO SINTEF. Photo: Ole Morten Melgård.

The new facility will be used for scientific research on chemical capturing of CO2 from flue gases.

This is the most mature technology for carbon capture today, and is therefore likely to be used in the first full scale CO2 capture plants.

About NOK 45 million has been invested in the new, 11 floor-tall building outside Trondheim in Norway.

The new facility at SINTEF will contribute to develop technology that is being tested at the European CO2 Technology Centre at Mongstad, which is under construction and where Aker Clean Carbon is one of the technology providers.


Cheaper process
Scientists from SINTEF and NTNU will study chemical CO2-capture in a realistic, near-industrial environment in the new test facility, with the same equipment that is being used in full, industrial scale plants.

”The facility will help make the process cheaper and result in processes that do not have any harmful emissions to the environment,” says Nils A. Røkke, director for climate technology at SINTEF.


Project for 300 million
The test facility has been built as part of SOLVit, an eight-year R&D programme by SINTEF, the NTNU University and Aker Clean Carbon, to develop more effective carbon capture solvents and solutions.

SOLVit is a NOK 300 million-plus programme with additional financial Norwegian authorities and the industrial partners Scottish Power, E.ON and Statkraft.