Vattenfall and its Dutch subsidiary Nuon say that the pilot carbon capture plant in Buggenum, the Netherlands, is due to start up on schedule in August 2010.
The pilot plant, located at the Willem Alexander power plant will demonstrate pre-combustion carbon capture technology and is a key element of Vattenfall’s plans to commercialise carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Several large components for the facility arrived on site on 8th February via the Maas River.
The pilot plant will be the first carbon capture plant in the Netherlands, capturing 0.8 per cent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by the Willem Alexander facility, a 254 MW coal gasification plant. Nuon and Vattenfall aim to use the knowledge gained to realise large-scale CO2 capture at the planned Magnum power plant in Eemshaven, the Netherlands.
“The construction of the CO2 capture pilot in Buggenum is a positive signal that development of CCS is moving forward throughout Europe,” said Vattenfall in a statement. Together with Nuon, the Swedish firm is also planning to test two other types of carbon capture technology: oxyfuel and post-combustion.
The Magnum plant is scheduled to start operating in 2012 with three natural gas-fired combined cycle blocks. The plant will be later converted to a multi-fuel facility with the addition of coal gasification and pre-combustion capture of CO2.
