First UK carbon capture pilot at EfW facility goes live

The pilot is installed at the EfW operator’s Ferrybridge-1 EfW facility in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, and is capturing one tonne of CO2 emissions from the plant’s operations each day.

enfinium said that it plans to deploy Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology across its UK facilities to generate carbon removals at scale.  

The CCS technology was supplied by Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) and is a scaled-down version of the technology that could be deployed across the sites. 

The pilot will collect real operational data on performance – such as CO2 capture rate and solvent degradation – and will also assess the performance of different amine solvents. The trial will run for at least 12 months.  

Mike Maudsley, CEO of enfinium, said: “We are proud to have this sector-leading project up and running at our Ferrybridge facility. Carbon capture and storage technology is central to how the UK will be able to decarbonise its unrecyclable waste.  

“CCS is also critical to generating carbon removals at scale so the UK can achieve net zero. Using carbon capture, the energy from waste sector can provide significant levels of carbon removals and enfinium, with the support of HZI, are taking steps now to achieve this.” 

enfinium is also launching a five-week public consultation, running from 16 September to 20 October 2024, in regard to the planning and consenting programme for the installation of CCS at its Ferrybridge 1 and 2 Facilities. To find out more, enfinium can be contacted at decarbonisation@enfiniumferrybridge.co.uk. 

CCS at EfW facilities 

According to the EfW operator, deploying CCS at EfW facilities generates durable carbon removals, or “negative emissions”.  

Around 50% of the unrecyclable waste produced by society is made up of biogenic content including organic material such as waste food, plants and paper, which has already naturally absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere.  

Installing CCS technology at an energy from waste facility enables this CO2 to be permanently captured and stored rather than released back into the atmosphere, resulting in a net carbon removal from the atmosphere. 

The Climate Change Committee’s Progress Report, in July, noted that the UK must accelerate the production of carbon removals to stay on track to achieve net zero. 

On top of this, recent research by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies found that the energy from waste sector could contribute up to eight million tonnes of carbon removals. 

Olivia Powis, CEO at the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, commented: “With millions of tonnes of unrecyclable waste produced by the UK, this is an important demonstration of the use of CCS to generate clean power via energy from waste, as well as providing a future route to establishing the UK’s greenhouse gas removal market and enfinium have taken a landmark step with its delivery. Through projects such as the one at Ferrybridge, the UK will be able to meet the clean power by 2030 target.”