Carbon capture technology developer Nuada has been selected for €14.6 million in EU Innovation Fund support for a first-of-a-kind installation in France, marking a step towards commercial deployment of its electrically driven, solvent-free CO₂ capture process.
The SCALA project will deploy Nuada’s AdSpire technology at a biomass cogeneration plant operated by energy services company Idex in Hauts-de-France. The installation is designed to produce 10,000 tonnes of liquid biogenic CO₂ annually.
Unlike conventional carbon capture systems that use liquid chemical solvents to absorb CO₂ from industrial exhaust gases, Nuada’s process uses solid adsorbent materials to capture the gas, which is subsequently released using vacuum technology.
The company says this approach can reduce energy consumption and simplify integration with existing industrial facilities, potentially addressing two of the principal barriers to wider carbon capture deployment: operating costs and the complexity of retrofitting equipment.
The project is among 77 selected by the European Commission from 358 applications in the latest round of the EU Innovation Fund, which is financed through revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System. The selected projects collectively account for €3.4 billion in prospective support.
SCALA has also received the European Commission’s Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Seal, recognising its contribution to European technology priorities.
The French installation builds on Nuada’s earlier industrial pilot programmes, including a demonstration at enfinium’s Ferrybridge-1 energy-from-waste facility in West Yorkshire.
Moving from pilot demonstrations to a larger industrial installation will provide an opportunity to assess the technology’s performance under commercial operating conditions, including its energy requirements, reliability and integration with existing plant infrastructure.
Jose Casaban, co-chief executive of Nuada, described SCALA as a major milestone in the commercial deployment of the company’s technology.
“The Innovation Fund’s support is a powerful endorsement of our breakthrough carbon capture technology. It reflects the success of our pilot programmes, and the expertise, innovation and capability of our team to execute at scale.”
Capturing CO₂ from biomass combustion also raises the possibility of achieving net-negative emissions, provided the biomass is sustainably sourced and the captured carbon is permanently stored. The announcement does not specify the intended destination or end use of the liquid CO₂ produced by SCALA.
The project is intended to establish a basis for wider commercial deployment of Nuada’s technology, although a commissioning date has not been specified.
