Abstract
Despite growing global ambitions towards increased material recycling, waste-to-energy (WtE)
will likely continue to play an important role in coming decades as a means of managing waste
streams that for one reason or another may be difficult to treat otherwise. Typically, 40-60%
of municipal solid waste (MSW) used as input in WtE facilities are of biogenic origin in developed
countries, meaning that implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to WtE partially
can be classified as bio-CCS and lead to negative CO2 emissions. There are currently several
ongoing projects exploring CCS in WtE settings, and this case study presents what is arguably
the project that has come the farthest: the FOV (Fortum Oslo Varme) WtE plant in Oslo,
Norway.
There is currently plenty of CCS activities in Norway, both in the form of the development of a
transport & offshore storage infrastructure project called Northern Lights, and in the form of
point source capture projects. The FOV project has been initiated as part of a broader ambition
of the city of Oslo to reduce its GHG emissions by 95% in the period 2009-2030. With the FOV
plant being the city’s largest single emission source, it is imperative to address these.
A first pilot phase of the Fortum project started in 2015 and since then, a series of pilot
campaigns and feasibility studies have been conducted on an amine-based CO2 capture system.
In parallel, the Norwegian government has investigated and evaluated different options for
facilities deemed suitable to be included in the demonstration of a full-scale CCS supply chain.
In Autumn 2020, it was announced (under the name Longship) that the FOV project would be
one of two facilities that would get governmental funding (the other one being the Heidelberg
Norcem cement plant) together with Northern Lights for permanent storage. However, while
the Norcem plant (and Northern Lights) would be (presumably 80-90%) funded by the
government, funding for the FOV WtE plant has been conditioned on it being able to provide
50% co-funding (~300 million €) from own funding and other sources, the EU Innovation Fund
offering the best opportunity. At the time of writing (April 2021), it is uncertain if this
additional funding will be secured. This is now the key factor determining the time plan for
full-scale deployment of the CCS project at Fortum, which according to the original time plan
is due to come online in 2024. The EU Innovation Fund will decide in Q4 2021 if FOV receives
support. With a positive decision, the CCS plant could be operational by 2026-2027. Despite
these remaining uncertainties pertaining to funding, the recent years have seen several other
actors in Norway initiating WtE CCS projects.
will likely continue to play an important role in coming decades as a means of managing waste
streams that for one reason or another may be difficult to treat otherwise. Typically, 40-60%
of municipal solid waste (MSW) used as input in WtE facilities are of biogenic origin in developed
countries, meaning that implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to WtE partially
can be classified as bio-CCS and lead to negative CO2 emissions. There are currently several
ongoing projects exploring CCS in WtE settings, and this case study presents what is arguably
the project that has come the farthest: the FOV (Fortum Oslo Varme) WtE plant in Oslo,
Norway.
There is currently plenty of CCS activities in Norway, both in the form of the development of a
transport & offshore storage infrastructure project called Northern Lights, and in the form of
point source capture projects. The FOV project has been initiated as part of a broader ambition
of the city of Oslo to reduce its GHG emissions by 95% in the period 2009-2030. With the FOV
plant being the city’s largest single emission source, it is imperative to address these.
A first pilot phase of the Fortum project started in 2015 and since then, a series of pilot
campaigns and feasibility studies have been conducted on an amine-based CO2 capture system.
In parallel, the Norwegian government has investigated and evaluated different options for
facilities deemed suitable to be included in the demonstration of a full-scale CCS supply chain.
In Autumn 2020, it was announced (under the name Longship) that the FOV project would be
one of two facilities that would get governmental funding (the other one being the Heidelberg
Norcem cement plant) together with Northern Lights for permanent storage. However, while
the Norcem plant (and Northern Lights) would be (presumably 80-90%) funded by the
government, funding for the FOV WtE plant has been conditioned on it being able to provide
50% co-funding (~300 million €) from own funding and other sources, the EU Innovation Fund
offering the best opportunity. At the time of writing (April 2021), it is uncertain if this
additional funding will be secured. This is now the key factor determining the time plan for
full-scale deployment of the CCS project at Fortum, which according to the original time plan
is due to come online in 2024. The EU Innovation Fund will decide in Q4 2021 if FOV receives
support. With a positive decision, the CCS plant could be operational by 2026-2027. Despite
these remaining uncertainties pertaining to funding, the recent years have seen several other
actors in Norway initiating WtE CCS projects.
