Two of Reykjavik Energy’s subsidiaries, ON Power and Carbfix, have received a total of €3.9 million from the EU Innovation Fund. The funding is allocated for the carbon capture Silverstone project, which is located in the Hellisheidi geothermal plant of Reykjavik Energy.
The aim of the project is to come as close as possible to a net-zero carbon footprint of the plant with the help of carbon capture and mineral storage technology.
And this technology, in turn, is provided by Carbfix, which dates back to 2007, when the company worked together with different universities and research institutions in Iceland and other countries for its development.
The process of storing the captured CO2 emissions involves dissolving them in water and then injecting them into basaltic rocks. This causes a reaction to take place between the rocks and the carbon dioxide, which creates stable carbonate minerals inside those rocks – a process known as carbon mineralization.
Carbon Capture Project Emissions Reduction
As such, the Carbfix technology has demonstrated its economic potential and ability to serve as a climate solution that is also sustainable and environmentally friendly. And hence, the focus is now set on scaling it up and building towards a total capture capacity of around 34,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Furthermore, the scale-up operation will see the plant be entirely self-sufficient and completely independent of any external raw materials. It is expected to become operational in 2025 and have a major contribution to Iceland’s goal of a 55%-reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
In fact, it is estimated that the carbon capture and storage Silverstone project will be responsible for about 10% of those reductions.
And the carbon capture investment provided by the EU Innovation Fund will facilitate a huge leap forward in this direction for the project. As mentioned by ON Power CEO, Berglind Rán Ólafsdóttir, the company is already producing green energy, but it wants and “must do even better”.
