Norway’s CO2 project involves Murmansk

Engineering firm Reinertsen, based in the Norwegian city of Trondheim, will expand its operations in Murmansk, Russia, as a result of a new $400 million contract to provide parts for a CO2 capture and test center at Technology Center Mongstad, the company said in a release Oct. 27. TCM will initially test two technologies for capturing CO2 from two flue gas sources with different CO2 content.

Reinertsen’s contract includes the fabrication and installation of tie-in systems to the flue gas sources, pre-processing sources for the flue gas, and installation of electrical and control systems. The company will hire 100-150 more employees in Murmansk, and about 100 in the Bergen region of Norway, and will perform project management and planning at its head office in Trondheim. The contract work is due to be completed in April 2011.

Norwegian oil company Statoil is responsible for the project execution for the test center. The partners in TCM are Statoil, Gassnova (established to manage the Norwegian government’s interests in carbon capture and storage) and Norske Shell.

“The goal of the testing is to qualify technologies for large-scale CO2 cleaning of exhaust gas based on the most cost-effective solutions,” the release said. “Technology Center Mongstad is the largest test facility of its kind in the world, with an annual capacity to handle up to 100,000 tons of CO2. The experience gained by the operation of the technology center will in turn form the basis for a full-scale facility.”

—Sarah Hurst