Carbfix Iceland ohf. (Reykjavík) announced that its new pilot carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant at ON Power’s geothermal plant at Nesjavellir, Iceland is now operational and injection of CO2 and H2S has started at the site. This is a result of significant research and development carried out within the EU Horizon2020 project GECO to further improve the Carbfix technology. The pilot plant may be moved to different locations for other Carbfix pilot projects in the future.
The mission was both to significantly increase CO2 capture efficiency of the Carbfix technology, and to provide the basis for a subsequent permanent CCS installation at Nesjavellir – Iceland’s second largest geothermal plant – to reduce its CO2 emissions as well as its H2S emissions. The plant was designed and constructed in collaboration with Mannvit Consulting Engineers, Verkís Consulting Engineers and Héðinn.
The project is a milestone towards the goal of further reducing CO2 emissions of geothermal power plants, a key component of Iceland’s climate actions.
The pilot plant captures all H2S that flows through it and up to 98% of CO2. It has an annual capture capacity of 3,000 tons of CO2 and 1,000 tons of H2S, which represents approximately 20% of the power plants annual emissions.
The captured CO2 is injected into the basaltic subsurface at the Nesjavellir injection site where it reacts with the bedrock and forms stable carbonate minerals. A full-scale CCS-plant, based on this pilot, is scheduled to become operational at Nesjavellir by 2030, reducing the plant’s CO2 and H2S footprint to near zero.