Vantaa Energy’s carbon dioxide capture project advancing

Vantaa Energy, a Finnish urban energy company also known for Varanto, the largest thermal energy storage facility in the world, is taking a leap forward with the plans to capture and store carbon dioxide from all of its waste-to-energy plants. Now the project is advancing to the environmental impact assessment, zoning, permitting, commercial negotiations and partner procurement phases. A decision on an investment worth hundreds of millions of euros could be made in 2027, according to current estimates. The carbon value chain costs are in the billion range, and its realization will require cooperation between the State and partner companies. 

The environmental and emission impacts of energy recovery from non-recyclable waste are significantly lower than from the landfilling of waste. When non-recyclable waste is incinerated in a waste-to-energy plant, the heat generated can be used to produce electricity and heating for homes and offices. However, the incineration process produces carbon dioxide emissions that cannot be avoided other than by capturing the carbon dioxide.

“If the capture project is implemented, we would have an almost emission-free way to treat non-recyclable mixed waste from households in the southern Finland region. And that would give it a significant positive footprint. In order to ensure non-recyclability, we are also planning a mixed waste sorting plant, which would put back into circulation materials from the mixed waste bags that still have value,” says Kalle Patomeri, Business Director, Energy and Circular Economy.

The final disposal site for the captured CO2 would be located in geological formations in the seabed of Danish or Norwegian territorial waters, e.g., or in suitable underground geological formations on the mainland. The estimated cost of a capture plant for the waste-to-energy site at Vantaa’s Långmossebergen is around 350 million euros. In addition, liquefied carbon dioxide logistics to the port, a dedicated terminal in the port, ships suitable for transporting the carbon dioxide, and the technology needed to pump the carbon dioxide into the seabed at the receiving end also will be required.

“Therefore, an infrastructure and value chain are needed to move carbon dioxide to permanent geological repositories. We estimate the total cost of creating such a value chain to be in the billion range. We cannot do this alone; we need a common understanding and concrete cooperation between partner companies and the State. We are one of the driving forces behind this, but this should be a project for the whole of Finland. Realizing these kinds of projects requires sufficient funding and support from society in many different areas, including, for example, in the area of licensing and zoning,” notes Patomeri.

The commercial value of captured carbon dioxide is created in a voluntary market, where permanently removed biogenic carbon dioxide produces negative emissions, which generate securities that allow for emission offsetting. Vantaa Energy could capture and store around 660,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, of which biogenic carbon dioxide would account for 40-50%.

“Let’s imagine that Company X operates in an industry where it is difficult to remove emissions quickly because the technology has not yet evolved to being emissions-free, for example air transport. The airline can offset all its emissions by purchasing carbon offset credits equal to the amount stored in the permanent geological repository from our operations, for example. The airline could then sell flights with fully offset emissions. For the project to be viable, the revenue from the carbon credits must make the project profitable for us,” says Patomeri.

The project is now entering the pre-planning phase, which aims to move forward with permitting, zoning and, for example, partnering. According to the current plan, an investment decision could be made by 2027. Due to the uncertainty of permitting, regulation, technology and markets, there are significant risks to the project’s timetable, but Vantaa Energy aims to be carbon negative in its energy production by 2030.

Further information
Kalle Patomeri, Business Director, Energy and Circular Economy,
Vantaa Energy Ltd
tel. +358 50 529 4158