Nordjylland Power Station
Brief description:
Comments
ZERO is disappointed by the Vattenfall decision to delay the Nordjylland Power Plant. As one of the largest emission sources in Europe it is not enough to just build a CCS plant now. This facility would be important as the first major facility for CO2 capture from existing coal power plants with future plans for capture of CO2 from biomass.
Facts:
Vattenfall announced in 2008 its intention to develop a full CCS demonstration plant in Denmark on Nordjylland Power Station. The project was postponed indefinitely in December 2009.
The aim of the project was to capture CO2 and then transport and store it in a 1-2km deep aquifer in the geological structure of Vedsted in Jammerbugt municipality.
The plan was to establish a full-scale, post-combustion plant to capture CO2 at Nordjylland Power Station, at Aalborg. The power plant combusts 800,000 tonnes of coal annually, resulting in emissions of approximately 2.8 million tonnes of CO2. The primary purpose of the demonstration facility was to contribute to a significant reduction in energy loss during the capture process.
Vattenfall engaged a team of engineers and geologists to examine the CO2 storage capacity at Vedsted. The purpose was to confirm expectations for storage capacity and the possibilities for injection and safe storage of CO2 in the subsurface. In the CCS demonstration plant the CO2 would have been collected and transported in liquid phase through an approximately 30 km-long pipeline to the Vedsted structure.
The final investment decision was planned to be taken in 2010 or 2011 and CCS demonstration plant operative during 2015.
Unfortunately Vattenfall, in September 2009, postponed their plans. The project which originally was set to be operational in 2013 is now postponed indefinitely due to economic circumstances. In addition, local communities around Aalborg, which would host the storage facility, have been protesting against the plans because of fears related to CO2 leakage from the onshore storage site. Locals have established the organization "No to CO2 storage". Vattenfall has met the opposition in several public meetings, giving information about the R&D results on storage security at Vedsted.
Nordjyllandsværket would, through this project, remove 1.8 million tonnes of CO2. Vattenfall says it still has plans for CO2 storage for Nordjyllandsværket in the future.
Timing
Postponed indefinitely in September 2009. The storage is postponed until at least 2020.
Other Sources and press releases
Plans for CO2 storage postponed until 2020, March 2010
Vattenfall postpones CO2-storage project in Northern Jutland (Sep 2009)
Vattenfalls CCS demonstration project in northern Denmark (Feb 2008)