The mission was both to significantly increase CO₂ capture efficiency of the Carbfix technology, and to provide the basis for a subsequent permanent CCS installation at Nesjavellir – Iceland’s second largest geothermal plant – to reduce its CO₂ emissions as well as its H₂S emissions. The plant was designed and constructed in collaboration with Mannvit Consulting Engineers, Verkís Consulting Engineers and Héðinn.

The project is a milestone towards the goal of further reducing CO₂ emissions of geothermal power plants, a key component of Iceland’s climate actions.

The pilot plant captures all H₂S that flows through it and up to 98% of CO₂. It has an annual capture capacity of 3,000 tons of CO₂ and 1,000 tons of H₂S, which represents approximately 20% of the power plants annual emissions.  

The captured CO₂ is injected into the basaltic subsurface at the Nesjavellir injection site where it reacts with the bedrock and forms stable carbonate minerals. A full-scale CCS-plant, based on this pilot, is scheduled to become operational at Nesjavellir by 2030, reducing the plant’s CO₂ and H₂S footprint to near zero.

 “I am incredibly proud of the Carbfix team, our partners at ON Power and our collaborators, for the hard work and dedication that went into this project,” says Nökkvi Andersen, Project Manager. “It was a challenging but rewarding experience, and its success is a testament to great teamwork. This is an important milestone, not only in terms of reducing the CO₂ footprint of the Nesjavellir plant but in terms of future application of the Carbfix technology in general.”

“ON Power has decided to make our production emission free by 2030 and we are collaborating with Carbfix to achieve this,” says Berglind Rán Ólafsdóttir, CEO of ON Power. “The collaboration has been excellent, and we are on track to make Hellisheiði the first emission free geothermal power plant in the world by 2025 and Nesjavellir by 2030. We were the first to set this target and our collaboration demonstrates to the world that it is possible – which is precisely what is needed.”

The pilot is part of the European Union’s GECO project (Geothermal Emission Control), funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. Extensive research has furthermore been carried out by Reykjavik Energy, University of Iceland, ISOR, CNRS, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, University of Edinburgh, University College London, and the University of Salerno to gain further insights into the mineralization process and to develop new monitoring technologies for current and future projects.

About Carbfix:

Carbfix is the world’s first CO₂ mineral storage operator. Since 2012, Carbfix has mineralized over 80 thousand tons of CO₂ in Iceland using proprietary technology. This proven, safe, permanent, and cost-effective carbon storage solution is ripe for significant upscaling both in Iceland and worldwide. Carbfix’s largest current project is Coda Terminal, recipient of a EUR 115M grant from the EU’s Innovation Fund, with an expected capacity to mineralize 3 million tons of CO₂ annually.