The goal of the TCM will be to offer an arena for purposeful development, testing and qualification of carbon capture technology. It will also aim to contribute to the international dissemination of the results of this work, so that the cost and risk of full-scale carbon capture plants can be reduced.

The facility will have an annual capacity for capturing about 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from flue gases. Access to facilities for technology testing and verification at a size close to industrial scale is crucial for success with carbon capture from power generation and industry.

The TCM could thereby serve as a significant Norwegian contribution to international technological development through the establishment of such a test facility.

One objective for the TCM is to contribute to a strong network of companies and institutions, both Norwegian and foreign, in this field. Its results could also form the basis for work at universities and research institutions.

To ensure that findings from the TCM have the broadest possible relevance, plans call for carbon capture to be tested from two flue gas sources using two different technologies.

One of these technologies is amine-based, while the other rests on carbonate. Aker Clean Carbon has already been chosen to deliver the amine solution, and Alstom the other.

Due to operate independently, the two carbon capture facilities will be able to capture flue gases from Mongstad’s combined heat and power plant as well as the refinery cracker. The choice of these technologies is based in part on assessments of their improvement potential, suitability for implementation in existing plants and technical maturity.

Other criteria include possible full-scale application, health, safety and environmental aspects, and opportunities to capture from various sources such as coal, gas and refining.

Work on the construction of the TCM is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2009, with start-up planned for the end of 2011 or early 2012. Statoil is the operator for the development and operations phases.