TECO 2030 wins tax relief grant for CCS development

Norwegian engineering and equipment development company TECO 2030 has been granted up to NOK 4 million ($462,300) in tax relief as indirect government support for developing carbon capture solutions (CCS).

The support has been granted through the Research Council of Norway’s Skattefunn scheme, which is a tax deduction scheme designed to stimulate research and development (R&D) activities in Norwegian companies.

The project involves the development and testing of onboard solutions that can capture more than 90% of the CO2 in the ship’s exhaust systems.

The tax relief given to TECO 2030 under the Skattefunn scheme will cover 19% of the costs accrued in this project over the period of two years.

“We are currently in the process of developing technological solutions that will enable ships running on fossil fuels to reduce their emissions and become more climate-friendly by capturing the CO₂ that they would otherwise emit with their exhaust gases,” said Tore Enger, CEO of TECO 2030.

TECO 2030 is developing carbon capture solutions for ships together with the American technology company Chart Industries, Inc.

The solutions will separate the CO2 from the ship’s exhaust gases and store it in liquid form until it can be offloaded when the ship has reached port.

When offloaded, the CO₂ can then either be permanently stored in geological formations underground or be put to beneficial use in CO₂-consuming industries, such as the agricultural, industrial, energy, or food and beverage sectors.

Carbon capture technology has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry by more than 30% by 2050, according to DNV’s Maritime Forecast to 2050.

What is more, TECO 2030 joined forces on the feasibility study with Austrian-based automotive consulting firm AVL List GmbH to explore the potential of carbon capture and storage in the maritime industry, focusing on the vessel capabilities and robustness of the technology.

According to the study, by installing onboard carbon capture and storage equipment, the shipping industry has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

This is an important part of reducing shipping’s environmental footprint, TECO 2030 said.

The company is currently in the process of separating its carbon capture business unit into a separate entity fully owned by TECO 2030.

The new entity will be known as TECO 2030 Carbon Capture AS and will be based in Narvik in northern Norway.