Norway-headed pure-play carbon capture company Aker Carbon Capture AS has announced that it has been awarded a feasibility study by Limeco, a Swiss company that is planning to construct a new waste-to-energy (WtE) plant in Dietikon, in the canton of Zürich.
With its treatment facilities, Limeco produces carbon dioxide (CO2) neutral district heating and cooling, renewable electricity, and green gas.
Limeco is planning new waste-to-energy capacity in Dietkon while Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is expected to be mandatory for future waste-to-energy (WtE) plants in Switzerland.
We are excited to collaborate with Limeco in their decarbonization efforts. Decarbonizing the waste-to-energy industry is crucial to achieving Switzerland’s 2050 net zero target. With our modular Just Catch offering we have a strong foothold in the waste-to-energy segment. The award of this feasibility study is further validation that the CCUS market is accelerating, said Jon Christopher Knudsen, Chief Commercial Officer at Aker Carbon Capture.
Carbon capture with heat recovery
The new waste incineration plant will consist of two identical incineration lines. According to Aker Carbon Capture, it’s standardized and modularized Just Catch carbon capture units are developed for this volume of CO2 and will be able to provide a perfect fit with Limeco’s requirements.
The CO2 will be liquified for transport by truck or train.
Since Limeco’s waste-to-energy plant is a greenfield project to produce district heating, heat integration between the incineration plant and the carbon capture plant can be used to maximize district heat production.
This will provide an overall attractive business case for Limeco, while at the same time contributing to Switzerland’s national ambitions for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
As part of the Limeco Masterplan 2050 and in the context of the Swiss government’s energy and climate strategy, the basics are to be laid for an integrated cross-generation project. CO2 capture and logistics at the site are important and sensitive issues for the layout of the future plants and the upcoming planning. At this early stage, all future options and developments must be taken into account so that they can be implemented at a later stage, said Markus Bircher, who is responsible for the project at Limeco.
Switzerland currently has 29 waste-to-energy plants that emit a total of 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Approximately 50 percent of the CO2 emissions are biogenic, while the other 50 percent are of fossil origin.
