Setterwalls has assisted Skellefteå Kraft AB regarding permit application for capturing biogenic carbon dioxide

Setterwalls has assisted Skellefteå Kraft AB regarding permit application for capturing biogenic carbon dioxide from flue gases at a cogeneration plant in Skellefteå in order to create negative carbon emissions. By creating negative carbon dioxide emissions, Skellefteå Kraft AB has the opportunity to contribute to the fulfillment of Sweden’s long-term goal of having no net greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere by 2045, and thereafter reducing atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases. Skellefteå Kraft AB is one of the first companies to have been granted permission for the capture of biogenic carbon dioxide for geological storage.

Through the granted permit, Skellefteå Kraft AB is allowed to capture and separate the carbon dioxide released during the combustion of sustainably produced biofuels at the cogeneration plant in Skellefteå. After transport, the carbon dioxide is intended to be stored geologically. In the long term, the project is estimated to enable up to approximately 140,000 tons of negative carbon dioxide emissions per year, which is roughly equivalent to the emissions from car traffic in Skellefteå municipality over a full year.

The application for the alteration permit included the separation and compression of carbon dioxide from outgoing flue gases at the cogeneration plant. Subsequent transport from the facility to interim storage and handling of the separated and compressed carbon dioxide in preparation for transport to a permanent storage site under the seabed were not included in the application. The Environmental Review Delegation agreed with the applicant’s view that transport, liquefaction, and interim storage of the carbon dioxide are to be considered as consequential operations to the applied activity and considered the scope of the application for the alteration permit to be appropriate.