A new carbon capture project, which is focused on switching from onshore carbon capture to CCS onboard a ship, has been awarded funding from the Norwegian government.

This project is a collaboration between Solvang, the scrubber manufacturer Wartsila and the research unit Sintef and will involve a full-scale installation onboard an ethylene carrier Clipper Eris, to enable switching from onshore carbon capture to onboard carbon capture testing.

Solvang made the decision to carry out this full-scale pilot test of CO2 capture on board the gas tanker, after various data has been processed since 2021, from a variety of engines at the onshore Wartsila testing facility in Moss, Norway. All the data processed has provided positive results, which has led Solvang to making this decision to begin onboard tests.

Solvang plans to use amine cleaning technology to capture 70% of the Co2 emitted in the exhaust gas from the main engine. This experiment will act as a demonstration for the entire value chain around handling Co2 whilst onboard the ship, this will include handling Co2 in storage and liquefaction. These tests will be taking place onboard the ship for two years, whilst the ship is still operating commercially as normal. If the test results are positive, Solvang plans to install the new technology on 5 new ships which will arrive in 2026 and 2027.

The CEO of Solvang ASA, Edvin Enderson, commented, “Carbon capture combined with existing cleaning technology is a significant shortcut to the decarbonisation of the world’s deep-sea fleet, and stands out as one of the more promising solutions for the ships of the future. With support from Enova, it is possible to start the pilot project on board the ship and test both technology and value chain.”