Highlights

• enfinium launches UK’s first carbon capture pilot at an energy-from-waste site.
• Located at Ferrybridge-1 in West Yorkshire, it captures 1 tonne of CO2 per day.
• enfinium’s Net Zero Transition Plan aims for 1.2 million tonnes of carbon removals by 2030s.

enfinium, a leading UK energy from waste operator, has launched the UK’s first carbon capture pilot at its energy-from-waste site.

This is a big deal in the industry and fits with enfinium’s plan to roll out Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) across its UK sites to achieve big carbon removals and support UK Net Zero.

The pilot is located at enfinium’s Ferrybridge-1 site in Knottingley, West Yorkshire and uses a containerised version of CCS technology from Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI). It captures 1 tonne of CO2 per day from the site’s operations.

The trial will test how the technology can be scaled across enfinium’s six energy-from-waste sites to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It will collect operational data on CO2 capture rate and solvent degradation over at least 12 months.

In January, enfinium announced its Net Zero Transition Plan, which includes decarbonising its operations and achieving 1.2 million tonnes of carbon removals by the 2030s. This plan is backed by a £1.7 billion investment in CCS. The carbon capture pilot is a key part of this plan and will provide data to inform future CCS deployments across enfinium’s sites.

CCS at energy from waste plants can deliver durable carbon removals or ‘negative emissions’. Half of the waste that cannot be recycled contains biogenic materials like organic waste, which have absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere. By installing CCS, this CO2 can be captured and stored permanently, reducing the atmospheric CO2.

The Climate Change Committee’s July report said we need more carbon removals to meet Net Zero. Recent research from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies says the energy from the waste sector could deliver up to 8 million tonnes of carbon removals.

Mike Maudsley, enfinium CEO, said: "We are proud to have this sector-leading project up and running at our Ferrybridge facility. Carbon capture and storage technology is central to how the UK will be able to decarbonise its unrecyclable waste. CCS is also a critical to generating carbon removals at scale so the UK can achieve Net Zero. Using carbon capture, the energy from waste sector can provide significant levels of carbon removals and enfinium, with the support of HZI, are taking steps now to achieve this.”

HZI’s CEO Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin said: “Working with enfinium to deliver the UK’s first carbon capture pilot at an energy from waste facility is an exciting project. The operational pilot demonstrates our capability to deliver vital decarbonising infrastructure for the waste sector that is critical to the industry’s Net Zero ambitions. The project will meaningfully expand our carbon capture knowledge base and provide a springboard for delivering decarbonisation solutions worldwide. Our vision is to enhance decarbonisation, circularity and supply security for present and future generations, and this project embodies perfectly what we are striving for.”

Enfinium is now consulting on CCS installations at Ferrybridge 1 and 2 for 5 weeks from 16 September to 20 October 2024. This is a Project of National Significance.

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Source: enfinium