Italy’s first post-combustion carbon capture plant starts operation

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) says its proprietary carbon capture technology, the KM CDR (Kansai Mitsubishi carbon dioxide recovery process developed with Kansai Electric Power Co), has been deployed to remove approximately 25,000 tonnes/year of CO2 at Europe’s first fully operational post-combustion carbon capture plant, which is part of the Ravenna carbon capture and storage project launched by chemical firms Eni and Snam near Ravenna, Italy.

The technology was implemented at Eni’s Casalborsetti natural gas treatment plant through tech firm Nextchem, Maire’s subsidiary for the energy transition, who acted as a technology integrator, while Maire’s subsidiary KT (Integrated E&C Solutions) completed the full Engineering, Procurement and Construction works on site. MHI provided the Process Design Package (PDP) and is licensing its technology.

The capture process is being used to treat low-CO2 flue gas from a natural gas turbine that drives a turbo compressor. The facility is reducing CO2 emissions by 90%, rising to peaks of 96%. Considering the CO2 concentration levels of less than 3% and the low level of atmospheric pressure in the exhaust, this is a remarkable achievement for the world’s first industrial-scale project with such high levels of carbon capture efficiency – one that could be replicated with other industrial processes producing low-CO2 flue gas.

As well as being a significant development in the decarbonisation of industry, this also represents a major milestone for Ravenna CCS, said to be the first project for the capture, transport and permanent storage of CO2 in Italy, developed for exclusively environmental purposes by Eni and Snam.

The captured CO2 is subsequently transported through reconverted gas pipelines and then injected and stored at a depth of about 3,000 m in Eni’s Porto Corsini Mare Ovest depleted offshore gas field. Over the coming years, with Phase 2, the further industrial-scale development of the Ravenna CCS project will enable the storage of up to 4 million tonnes/year of CO2 by 2030.

Tatsuto Nagayasu, MHI’s Senior Vice President (CCUS) of GX (Green Transformation) Solutions, commented: “What MHI’s carbon capture technology has achieved through this project marks a significant milestone and paves the way for further carbon emission reductions across the industry in the future. It also supports the ambitious CCUS goals set by Italy and Europe. The successful deployment of our advanced CO2 capture technology at Europe’s first fully operational post-combustion carbon capture plant for CO2 storage demonstrates the versatility and effectiveness of our technology. Through innovations and partnerships like these we are strengthening MHI’s position as a global leader in carbon capture solutions and driving the global energy transition forward.”

MHI Group has formally declared its intent to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, and the company is now working strategically to decarbonise both the energy demand and supply sides. A core element of the company’s transition strategy is the development of a CCUS value chain integrating diverse sources of carbon emissions with modes for carbon storage and utilisation.

As of September 2024, MHI says it has delivered 18 plants adopting the KM CDR process, which adopts the KS-21 solvent that incorporates technological improvements over the amine-based KS-1 and offers regeneration efficiency and lower deterioration than the KS-1.