CRI, Finnfjord and Statkraft intend to build a commercial e-methanol plant in northern Norway

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Type of post: NEWS. 

Carbon Recycling International (CRI, Emissions-to-Liquids technology provider), Finnfjord AS (ferrosilicon producer) and Statkraft AS (hydropower company) have announced the joint development of a commercial e-methanol project in northern Norway with a planned production capacity of 100 ktons per year. 
Press release (CRI): “Commercial-scale ETL plant under development in Norway”, 23/10/2020. 

Figure 1. Finnfjord industry park concept (taken from the press release) 

The Finnfjord ferrosilicon plant, located in Troms and Finnmark county (Norway) has an installed production capacity of 100 ktons per year. It is one of the most energy-efficient ferrosilicon plants in the world and has a stated goal of becoming the first facility of its kind to achieve carbon neutrality. The partners seek to capture and convert more than half of its emissions into methanol for fuel and chemical applications. 

The plant will use as raw materials: 300 ktons per year of CO2 captured from the emissions of the Finnfjord ferrosilicon plant and hydrogen generated from the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity. The production process will be based on CRI’s Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL) technology. This process has been successfully demonstrated at industrial scale since 2012 in Iceland. 

In addition to the e-methanol plant project, Finnfjord is also developing plans to use its CO2 to produce up to 75 ktons of algae biomass. The co-siting of these carbon utilisation projects at the Finnfjord site brings additional benefits through shared infrastructure and efficient energy utilisation, supporting industrial innovation and sustainable economic development. 

The e-methanol plant will be a first-of-a-kind scaled-up facility and financial support of up to around 50% is required in order to compete with fossil-based alternatives. Funding is required to support the deployment of this technology, but cost reductions expected for future facilities as well as an increased cost of emitting CO2 will promote the further use of the technology. The project partners aim to reach an investment decision by the end of 2021 and project construction is expected to take around two years.

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