Borealis and Partners in Austrian CO2 Project
Borealis, OMV, electricity group Verbund and cement company Lafarge Zementwerke have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to plan and construct a full-scale carbon capture plant in Austria. The captured CO2 would be used to make synthetic fuels, chemicals or plastics.
The project, named Carbon2ProductAustria (C2PAT), would capture nearly all of the 700,000 t/y of CO2 that is emitted at Lafarge’s cement plant in Mannersdorf, Austria. Plans envision a full-scale plant to be in operation at Mannersdorf by 2030.
“Ultimately, CO2-neutral cement production can only be possible with the implementation of breakthrough technologies, like carbon capture, which is why we have great expectations for the C2PAT project,” said Lafarge CEO José Antonio Primo.
All the captured CO2 along with green hydrogen produced by Verbund will be transformed by oil and gas group OMV into renewable-based hydrocarbons, which in turn can be used to produce synthetic fuel or chemical feedstock or be used by Borealis to make plastics.
The joint project will be designed in three phases. In the first phase, the partners are currently evaluating and developing a joint strategy for project development, business modelling and process engineering.
Based on the results, a second phase would see a cluster of industrial pilot plants developed in the eastern part of Austria by 2023. The third and final phase would see full implementation of 700,000 t/y of captured CO2 to demonstrate the project’s global scalability.
The consortium added that C2PAT’s success will largely depend on whether the right financial and regulatory framework conditions are created both at EU and national Austrian level.
