Icelandic geothermal power company HS Orka hf has signed a contract with Topsoe for the supply of a plant to transform excess CO2 into a commercial product.

Icelandic geothermal power company HS Orka hf has signed a contract with Topsoe for the supply of a plant to transform excess CO2 into a commercial product. The plant will be the first to use Topsoe’s new selective oxidation catalyst SMC to remove sulphur from CO2 – providing an attractive commercial opportunity for many geothermal power plants around the world which have CO2 as a byproduct. However, the gas is typically polluted by sulphur that prevents its industrial use and also creates an unpleasant odour. Topsoe’s new selective oxidation catalyst SMC is aid to produce odour-free commercial grade CO2.

The Topsoe catalyst will be at the core of a new demonstration plant that will be placed next to HS Orka’s existing geothermal power plant at Svartsengi, in Iceland. The plant will process 10% of the total offgas stream to produce commercial grade CO2. HS Orka will market the CO2 to local greenhouses and algae producers, who can grow products for export and local consumption even in the dark Icelandic winter, aided by high CO2 levels in the greenhouses and low cost electric lighting and heat, all from geothermal power.
The contract is for a lease agreement based on an integrated solution from Topsoe that delivers engineering and process design, equipment and complete services, including remote monitoring and catalyst replacement. HS Orka pays Topsoe per ton of CO2 that meets the purity requirement.