Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are necessary to achieving climate targets. A new VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT) report highlights the critical role of infrastructure in developing CCUS value chains. Shared infrastructure significantly reduces project-specific costs and is key to unlocking larger coverage of carbon dioxide flows within a broader industrial ecosystem focused on creating sustainable products and permanent carbon storage.
Finland has excellent opportunities to capture biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) from the forestry and energy industries. Large point sources generate approximately 30 million tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually.
Plans for several carbon capture projects are already underway across the country. The latest announcement regarding carbon capture and storage was made last week. Finland is far from European CO2 storage sites and future CO2 markets, so leveraging shared logistics solutions is especially important for us in terms of investment decisions and the development of the entire industrial ecosystem, said Erika Laajalahti, Sector Manager of Carbon Removal and CCUS at the Bioenergy Association of Finland (Bioenergia).
Comprehensive report
Commissioned by Bioenergia, and conducted by VTT, the report “Outlook of CO2 logistics in Finland for CCUS“ examines the potential of CO2 logistics to advance the value chains of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in Finland.
Carbon dioxide infrastructure includes necessary interim storage facilities for CO2 inland and along the coast, as well as transportation via pipelines, railways, or trucks.
In the permanent storage value chain, transport to the final destination is done by ship. The significance of infrastructure is emphasized in projects where CO2 cannot be utilized or stored near the capture site.
The study was conducted in 2024, and funded by Gasgrid Vetyverkot (Hydrogen Grids), Finnsementti, Fortum Power and Heat, Helen, Keravan Energia, Oulun Energia, Tampereen Energia and Vantaan Energia.
Regional carbon hubs
The report identified nine regional CO2 hubs that could share common infrastructure, with an annual carbon capture capacity of approximately 25.2 million tons of CO2.
Based on these CO2 hubs, three different scenarios for the infrastructure and logistics needs of CCUS by 2040 have been developed.
Sharing common infrastructure would reduce project costs by an average of 30 percent and simultaneously enable more projects to participate in carbon capture, utilization, or storage. There are significant opportunities in utilizing existing infrastructure. The use of the current railway network for CO2 transport seems to be a cost-efficient option. Pipeline transport is a cheaper alternative for shorter distances when capacity is high enough, said Lauri Kujanpää, Research Team Leader from VTT.
Shared infrastructure lowers costs
The investment costs for infrastructure across the entire system in the scenarios range from EUR 3.7 to EUR 4.7 billion, with the lowest costs found in a scenario focused on utilization, where the need for transportation is smaller.
The report emphasizes that Finland’s potential for biogenic CO2 capture, for example via bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), is significantly greater than the needs of the planned CO2 utilization projects and the storage potential via mineralization.
Therefore, the amount of CO2 does not limit the significant scaling of utilization and storage value chains.
