Aalborg Portland and Fidelis New Energy (Fidelis) have entered into a letter of intent for safe and permanent storage of Aalborg Portland's CO2 emissions utilizing Fidelis' recently announced Norne Carbon Storage Hub (Norne) in Aalborg. This agreement is a milestone accomplishment for the decarbonization of cement production, making Aalborg Portland an industry leader in carbon impact and further demonstrating Denmark's commitment to being a global leader in decarbonizing hard to abate industries.
"We are thrilled to be able to provide a safe and cost-effective decarbonization solution for Aalborg Portland, Denmark's only cement producer", said Ulrik Weuder, Managing Director of Fidelis New Energy Europe.
"Norne enables the safe and environmentally friendly, decarbonization of key segments of the Danish and European economies while enabling global competitiveness for key industries. This announcement with Aalborg Portland is an important milestone for the decarbonization of Denmark. We look forward to working with Aalborg Portland as they take additional steps to decarbonized cement production", added Bengt Jarlsjo, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer at Fidelis.
Potential of more than 400.000 tons of CO2
Aalborg Portland is expected to capture at least 400,000 tons of CO2 per year from their facility in Aalborg by 2030, and in accordance with the letter of intent, the captured CO2 will be transported through a direct pipeline connection and permanently stored by Norne. Aalborg Portland has long been committed to the sustainable production of cement, pursuing renewable fuels and advanced production technologies and methods to reduce the climate impact of cement production. Now the company is taking another important step in its ambitions to produce cement with a lower CO2 footprint.
"We have been closely following Fidelis' plans for the construction of Denmark's first large-scale CO2 handling facility in Aalborg with great interest. CO2 capture plays a key role in Aalborg Portland's transition process, where we aim to capture a minimum of 400,000 tons of CO2 per year by 2030, but we also aim even higher. Fidelis' facility is planned to be established just a few kilometers from Aalborg Portland, and therefore, this letter of intent makes a lot of sense", says Michael Lundgaard Thomsen, CCO of Aalborg Portland.
On 15 May 2023, Fidelis announced the Norne Carbon Storage Hub, an onshore CO2 storage network in Denmark for CO2 storage with plants in both Aalborg and Kalundborg. In this regard, Fidelis and Port of Aalborg entered into an agreement on the establishment of Denmark's first plant for handling captured CO2. The plant will be located at the East Port of Aalborg close to Aalborg Portland, and from 2026 it is expected to receive up to 4 million tons of greenhouse gases annually with the possibility of doubling capacity in the future.
"It is fantastic that Fidelis and Aalborg Portland are joining forces on CO2 capture and storage in Aalborg. This underlines the fact that we are on our way to becoming a pioneering area for dealing with captured CO2 on European soil. We have the leading research environments through Aalborg University and a business community with representatives of the entire value chain - from capture, to storage and not least utilization of CO2 to the green energy sources of the future", says Kristian Thulesen Dahl, CEO of Port of Aalborg.
Fidelis and Port of Aalborg also expect that up to 200 ships a year will come to Aalborg with imported CO2 from emission sources at home and abroad.
