Large-scale CO2 capture project added to Saipem’s workload in Europe

Italy’s engineering, drilling, and construction services provider Saipem has inked a letter of intent with Stockholm Exergi, the district of Stockholm’s energy company, for work on a large-scale CO2 capture plant, which will be installed at Stockholm Exergi’s existing bio-cogeneration plant located in the Swedish capital.

The letter of intent allows the start of limited, engineering-related activities while finalising the main terms of the EPC contract, which is expected to be signed in 3Q 2023. Saipem’s scope of work covers the engineering, procurement, and construction activities for the carbon capture unit, the CO2 storage as well as the ship loading systems for CO2 transportation.

Upon completion, the plant will be able to capture 800,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide every year from the biomass-fuelled Värtaverket power plant in Stockholm, thus enabling a net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, otherwise known as “negative emissions.”

Fabrizio Botta, Chief Commercial Officer at Saipem, commented: “We are pleased to be selected for this large-scale carbon capture project in Stockholm, and fully committed to support our client sustainability goals. This project will enable Saipem to further consolidate its position in the decarbonisation sector and expand its portfolio in the CCS segment, providing a fundamental contribution to the energy transition of Sweden and Europe.”

Furthermore, the Italian giant underscores that this project, which received financial support from the European Innovation Fund, will be one of Europe’s first large-scale plants to generate negative emissions, leading to the issuing of Carbon Removal Certificates which can then be traded on the market.

Per Ytterberg, Director of business development at Stockholm Exergi and Head of its BECCS business project, remarked: “The cooperation between us and Saipem is an important step towards the development of our large-scale plant for the separation and permanent storage of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). Stockholm Exergi is at the forefront of establishing BECCS and the goal is to construct one of Europe’s first and largest value chain for bio-energy carbon capture and storage.”

Saipem secured multiple new deals over the past few months. The most recent ones, which are worth approximately $1 billion, were awarded for activities in the Middle East and Brazil.