World's largest bioenergy CCS facility opens in Denmark

The plant, claimed to be largest of its kind in the world, is the first of five such facilities BioCirc is planning for its bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) portfolio of eight plants.

BioCirc claims the Vesthimmerland plant will be able to remove 32,500 tonnes of CO₂ annually, which is produced as part of the biogas production process.

The liquid CO₂ is then shipped to INEOS Greensand Future CO₂ storage in the Danish North Sea and injected into the subsoil using existing site infrastructure.

Greensand’s CO₂ storage reservoir lies 1,800 meters below the seabed, and about 200km off the Danish west coast. It aims to store up to 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year with an outlook to store 4-8 million tonnes of CO2 biogenic and fossil per year as volumes of CO2 for storage increase.

Bertel Maigaard, CEO of BioCirc, said: “The inauguration of the Vesthimmerland CCS plant marks the first, important step in BioCirc’s overall BECCS rollout.

“The plant is the first of five, and when all plants are in operation, BioCirc will contribute with capture and permanent storage of CO₂ from biogas on a large scale.”

Also of interest:
How Terega is greening gas molecules in southwest France
Turning yesterday's waste into tomorrow's energy resource
Three projects shaping the next phase of carbon capture in the UK

Maigaard added that the milestone was representative of a strategically important area for the company, demonstrating commitment to building biogas while driving the green transition.  

BioCirc's Vesthimmerland Biogas plant is the first in the series of five and, according to the company, will help establish a complete value chain for capture, transport, permanent storage of biogenic CO₂ and sale of credits.

The other four plants which are currently been put into operation include; Favrskov Biogas, Haderslev Biogas, Grønhøj Biogas and Vinkel Biogas.

BioCirc argues that its approach will allow them to capitalise on the various revenue streams created during biogas production. This allows the company to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits and could potentially help reduce fossil fuel use in other industries, such as farming and shipping.

The project is supported by the Danish Energy Agency via the NECCS fund.

BioCirc and Microsoft

The news follows an announcement in May this year that BioCirc entered into an agreement with Microsoft to deliver 650,000 Carbon Removal Units (CRUs) over the next seven years.

This will be done through carbon capture and storage at BioCirc’s 5 BECCS plantsand will be equivalent to permanently displacing 650,000 tonnes of CO₂.

The agreement supports Microsoft’s ambition to become CO₂ negative by 2030 and will contribute to scaling BioCirc’s approach.

Phillip Goodman, Director of Carbon Removal Portfolio at Microsoft, commented at the time: "BioCirc's project offers a permanent and scalable approach to CO₂ removal while contributing to a broader transition of the energy system. And it is precisely scalable, high-quality solutions for CO₂ removal with high traceability, like BioCirc's, that are crucial for the development of a robust global market for CO₂ removal."