23 May 2008 - Vattenfall will build a demonstration plant for CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) technology at one of the 500 MW blocks of the conventional lignite power plant Jänschwalde in the State of Brandenburg, Germany.
With the demonstration plant, in full-scale operation no later than 2015, Vattenfall is taking another important step towards commercial implementation of CCS technology. The investment is estimated to around €1bn euros ($1.58bn).
The Jänschwalde lignite power plant consists of six 500 MW blocks. For the demonstration plant, one of the blocks, consisting of two boilers, will be equipped with CCS. One boiler will be newly built with Oxyfuel technology; another one will be retrofitted with Post-combustion technology.
The world's first pilot plant for CO2-seperation will be inaugurated by Vattenfall in Schwarze Pumpe (State of Brandenburg) this summer. This pilot will have an installed capacity of 30 MW and aims to optimise the Oxy-fuel process, which has been successfully tested on a laboratory scale. Vattenfall is investing about €70m to build this pilot plant.
To compensate the loss of efficiency in the generation process, incurred by the installation of additional components, Vattenfall is developing methods for increasing efficiency and operational excellence.
Vattenfall is cooperating with Gaz de France Production and Exploration GmbH in order to test a technology for storing the captured CO2 in a depleted natural gas field in the Altmark.