Invests close to a billion kroner in pioneering carbon capture facility
Aker has decided to build what is likely to become the world's firstand largest CO2 capture facility of its kind. The planned budgetframework for the new CO2 capture plant is NOK 875 million; thefacility will be in operation as early as 2009, removing carbondioxide from exhaust emissions.
In recent years, Aker has worked intensively on developing new CO2capture technology. The primary purpose of the new facility is notprimarily further technology development; the objective is thedevelopment of construction methods and effective execution modelsthat make carbon sequestration so inexpensive that it becomes cheaperto clean emissions than to pollute.
"We have come a long way. To advance further, we must prove that weare able to package technology in commercially attractive solutions.Through our company Aker Clean Carbon, we are helping to move carboncapture from a research and development phase into commercializationand sales," says Leif-Arne Langøy, Aker ASA Chairman and CEO.
Industrial facilities and power generation plants that obtain energyby burning fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, or coal releasehuge volumes of carbon dioxide. On a global basis, the 4,000 largestplants in operation today are estimated to generate some 40 percentof CO2 releases to the atmosphere. In addition and on average, a newcoal-fired power plant is completed each week in China.
"These plants worldwide constitute our future market. In just a fewdecades, building carbon capture facilities can become an industrysimilar to the building of oil platforms today. Our goal is to putAker Clean Carbon at the forefront as this environmental industrymatures," says Mr. Langøy.
Leif-Arne Langøy continues: "Aker finds it interesting to investsignificant funds in such a project because both the market andpotential for future value creation are great. In short, we seeopportunities to make money by helping to solve the current climatecrisis. Aker has the capacity and a willingness to take a long-termperspective in this matter."
For further information, please contactGeir Arne Drangeid, Group EVP, Aker ASA, tel: +47 24 13 00 65
Aker Clean Carbon's plans will be presented at Felix ConferenceCenter at Oslo's Aker Brygge on Thursday, 24 January at 11:00. Allare welcome. No advance registration is required.
Further information about Aker Clean Carbon is available at:www.akercleancarbon.com when the presentation starts.
Further information about the research project into more effectiveamine solutions is available here: http://www.sintef.no/content/page1____17173.aspx