The Anonymous Widower

Rolls-Royce To Be A Partner In Zero-Carbon Gas-Fired Power Station In Rhodesia

This press release from Rolls-Royce is entitled Rolls-Royce, Landmark And ASCO Collaborate On CO2 Recovery Power Generation Solutions.

These three bullet points serve as sub-headings.

• Cooperation plans to develop solutions for clean power generation with carbon capture from gas reciprocating engines
• Captured CO2 will be available for use in industries such as food, Efuels, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), cement and plastic production
• First of-its-kind flexible power generation and carbon capture plant currently under construction in Nottinghamshire, UK

This image shows a Rolls-Royce mtu Series 4000 gas genset.

Note.

1. Power is up to 2.5 MW.
2. The engine is labelled H2-ready on its web page.

These two paragraphs add some detail to the project.

Rolls-Royce, ASCO Carbon Dioxide Ltd (ASCO), and Landmark Power Holdings Limited (LMPH), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at developing scalable solutions for clean power generation with carbon capture from mtu gas reciprocating engines. This strategic partnership will help enable power generation customers to achieve their net zero ambitions and marks a significant step towards addressing climate change.

“Power generation is a highly attractive, growing market segment and an area of strategic focus for Rolls-Royce, where partnerships can help further grow market position and broaden its power generation offering, as set out at last November’s Capital Markets Day”, said Tobias Ostermaier, President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems. Rolls-Royce is committed to becoming a net zero company by 2050 and supporting customers to do the same.

These are my thoughts.

Uses Of Carbon Dioxide

The press release from Rolls-Royce lists a few uses of carbon dioxide.

The plan is to make the captured CO2 available (utilisation) for use in various industries such as food production, Efuels, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), cement and plastic production (utilisation). The captured CO2 will also be ready for transportation should permanent sequestration be preferred (storage).

Carbon dioxide can also be added to the air in greenhouses, that are producing flowers, herbs, salad vegetables, soft fruit and tomatoes.

ASCO Carbon Dioxide

ASCO Carbon Dioxide is a subsidiary of French company; Schneider Electric.

The home page on their web site, describes ASCO Carbon Dioxide like this.

The Swiss ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE LTD is a globally operating company that offers complete solutions for CO2 and dry ice. The range of services includes carbon capture plants, CO2 recovery systems, ASCOJET dry ice blasting machines, dry ice production machines, CO2 cylinder filling systems, CO2 vaporisers, CO2 storage tanks, CO2 dosing systems for water neutralization and various other CO2 and dry ice equipment.

Thanks to this broad product range and more than 130 years of practical experience in the comprehensive CO2 and dry ice sector, the customer benefits from individual, complete CO2 solutions from a single source. ASCO has been part of the international industrial gases company Messer Group since 2007 and is its centre of competence for CO2.

In other words, the world and especially the climate change activists may hate carbon dioxide with a vengeance, but ASCO Carbon Dioxide see it as a way to make money and something that needs love.

It also seems, that if you want to do something with or to carbon dioxide, then ASCO Carbon Dioxide could be one of the first companies that you call.

Landmark Power Holdings Limited

The About page on their web site, describes the mission of Landmark Power Holdings Limited like this.

LMPH was established in 2019 with the purpose to help to build a circular economy, by applying new methodologies to proven technologies in energy production.

We support the transition to net zero by supplying dispatchable, low carbon energy that enables more renewable energy production while contributing to a circular economy, by eliminating inefficiencies in production, ensuring that every input is used to its maximum potential and treating all production waste as a profitable resource.

This Solutions page on their web site, describes their FlexPower Plus system.

These are the two introductory paragraphs.

FLEXPOWER PLUS® is LMPH’s modular approach to optimising the generation of clean flexible power. It is a combination of High Efficiency Flexible Power Generation modules and Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) modules.

Each of the modules can be added to the production processes depending on the site and production needs.

This last paragraph describes the result.

When you combine the the High Efficiency Flexible Power Generation modules with the Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) modules, the power generation is classified as low carbon and considered to be as clean as wind power but with the capacity to provide baseload power.

They certainly sound like my kind of company, as I was simulating processes like this for ICI in the 1970s.

ICI taught me that only four things should leave a chemical or other process plant.

• Product, that is sold at an advantageous price.
• Pure water
• Clean air
• Everybody who worked there.

It appears a FlexPower Plus system produces three valuable products; electricity, heat and pure food-grade carbon-dioxide.

The Rhodesia Project

The Rhodesia project has its own page on the Landmark Power Holdings web site, where these four paragraphs describe the project.

The Rhodesia project is a joint venture with Victory Hill, a specialist investment firm targeting direct investments in global energy infrastructure that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Rhodesia project is located in north Nottinghamshire near Worksop and has an electrical capacity of 10MW.

Additional capacity is to be sold through a private wire power supply for local businesses with the intent to facilitate vehicle charging stations.

Construction started in March 2022 and the start of power production is projected for Q3 2024 with the full CO2 capture from Q4 2024.

There is also this paragraph, that lists the partners in the Rhodesia project.

For the development of the Rhodesia project LMPH and Victory Hill have partnered with global industrial groups such as Mitsubishi Turboden S.p.A., MTU Rolls-Royce Solutions UK, ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE LTD, Climeon.

With three of the world’s largest companies amongst the partners, this partnership must have a high chance of success.

Victory Hill Capital Hill Partners

Victory Hill Capital Partners are partners in the Rhodesia project.

Their joint philosophy with Landmark Power Holdings is summed up on this video.

Working Together

The press release from Rolls-Royce says this about the partnership.

Rolls-Royce is contributing its extensive experience and global network in the field of decentralized power generation to the cooperation through its Power Systems division with the mtu product portfolio. The contribution of LMPH, a developer of high-efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects, is its patented FLEXPOWER PLUS® concept, combined with technical expertise and patented technologies. ASCO has over 50 years of experience in developing and building carbon capture (or CO2-Recovery) plants and will be providing valuable insights and solutions from the carbon capture industry.

There is also this diagram of the system.

 

Note.

1. The 4000 gas genset is in the bottom-left corner.
2. The HT PRC and LT ORC are two Mitsubishi turbo-generators generating electricity from waste heat.
3. The ASCO carbon capture system is in the top-left corner.
4. Carbon dioxide can either be stored or used.

This system should be zero-carbon, once the design is fully tested.

A View From The Top

This paragraph from the Rolls-Royce press release gives the view of the President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems.

Tobias Ostermaier, President Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said: “We are convinced that CO2 capture and storage systems in combination with our mtu gas gensets are an important building block on the way to Net Zero. As a complement to renewable energy sources, internal combustion engines can already provide clean, cost-effective and extremely reliable power generation.”

I suspect he’s rather pleased.

 

April 12, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Energy | ASCO Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Capture And Use, Carbon Dioxide, Decarbonisation, ICI, Mitsubishi, Rolls-Royce mtu, Victory Hill Capital Hill Partners