Wood partner with C-Capture to accelerate next-generation CCUS technology in the UK

Wood partner with C-Capture on project awarded £1.7m in BEIS funding to demonstrate feasibility of next generation, low-cost carbon capture solutions in hard-to-decarbonise industries

Wood is partnering with C-Capture, developers of world-leading chemical processes for carbon dioxide removal, who have secured £1.7m in funding from the BEIS £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP). The funding is part of the £20 million Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Innovation 2.0 programme aimed at accelerating the deployment of next-generation CCUS technology in the UK.

C-Capture will use the funding to finance a major, national £2.7m project, XLR8 CCS, as a critical step in the race to net zero. The multi-industry, multi-million-pound project, will see C-Capture’s unique, next-generation carbon capture technology deployed on numerous sites across the country, within industries that are particularly difficult to decarbonise. Demonstrating that a low-cost, carbon capture technology is a credible solution in reducing carbon emissions.

The compatibility of C-Capture’s unique, solvent-based technology will be trialled and assessed with real-world flue gas across three hard-to-abate sectors – at sites owned by project partners Hanson Cement, part of the Heidelberg Group, Bioenergy Infrastructure Group (BIG), Glass Futures and one of their member sites Pilkington UK Ltd – in conjunction with leading consulting and engineering company, Wood.

XLR8 CCS, a project designed to accelerate the deployment of a low-cost carbon capture solution for hard-to- abate industries, will deliver feasibility studies and deploy carbon capture solvent compatibility units (CCSCUs) across the cement and Energy from Waste (EfW) and – in a world first – the glass industry.

Tom White, CEO, C-Capture, said ‘The amount of CO2 being generated and released into the atmosphere is currently at a scale that is hard to imagine. The deployment of carbon capture technology is essential – and urgent – to achieve net zero by 2050. Our solution has the potential to be a game changer for carbon capture. It uses less energy than currently available technology meaning it can significantly reduce the cost of carbon capture to a point that makes it affordable globally. It is also environmentally benign, well suited to the large-scale capture of CO2 and robust enough to withstand even the most aggressive flue gases. These advantages mean it has potential to break the barriers that are preventing the widespread adoption of carbon capture and storage technology, to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

“We are delighted to be collaborating on our XLR8 CCS project with Wood, a global top tier engineering firm headquartered in the UK, and with companies within the glass, cement and EfW industries who have strong commitments to decarbonisation and are early adopters of novel carbon capture technology. Together, we will deploy our unique solvent across a wider variety of applications– and in this case some of the most challenging industries to decarbonise – demonstrating how the UK is leading the way to develop and export industrial decarbonisation technologies. The project is a huge step forward for these industries and a critical stepping stone in the path to net zero.”

As part of this project, Wood’s subject matter experts and technical consulting engineers will conduct feasibility studies at the three UK host sites for implementation of a commercial capture plants and support C-Capture to fabricate modular demonstration carbon capture plants for deployment at the host sites.

Azad Hessamodini, Executive President of Wood Consulting said, “Decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors is a critical challenge that needs to be addressed to deliver on net zero goals. As the project’s engineering partner, our team is looking forward to collaborating alongside the other XLR8 CCS project partners to deploy our technology integration and delivery expertise to help achieve a low-carbon future.”

Project success will see C-Capture and its project partners well placed for deployment of commercial-scale carbon capture facilities across the three industries by 2030 which could capture millions of tonnes of CO2 per year.