Marking a major milestone in the development of commercial-scale geological storage of CO2 in Europe to combat climate change, Carbfix has on 30 April received a storage permit for its injection site at Hellisheiði, Iceland, from the Environment and Energy Agency of Iceland. 

The permit allows for storage of up to 106,000 tons of captured CO2 annually, for a total of 3.2 million tons over 30 years. 

This is the first permit ever issued for onshore geological storage of CO2 in Europe under the EU’s Directive on Geological Storage of CO2 (the CCS Directive). Since the Directive’s adoption in 2009, only a handful of storage permits have been issued, and all apply to offshore projects. 

Carbfix started pilot injections of CO2 at Hellisheiði in 2012, testing a proprietary method to inject dissolved CO2 into porous basaltic rock formations deep underground for permanent mineralization. Subsequent studies showed that the CO2 did indeed mineralize within two years through natural reactions and is thus safely and permanently stored. 

Carbfix has successfully applied this method to store almost 100,000 tons of captured CO2 at the site. Under the CCS Directive, the requirement for a storage permit does not apply to storage below 100,000 tons for R&D purposes and testing of new processes. 

Carbfix stores CO2 from two sources that are located at the site: ON Power’s geothermal power plant, which is among the world’s largest, and Climeworks’ two direct air capture plants, the larger of which is the world’s largest direct air capture facility in operation. With the permit in place, it is now possible to capture and store all CO2 emissions of the Hellisheiði Power Plant. 

Carbfix is the first company to mineralize CO₂ underground on a commercial scale. The company is working towards utilizing the enormous storage potential of basaltic rock formations on a larger scale by developing Coda Terminal, a planned mineral storage hub in Iceland aiming for a capacity to store 3 million tons a year. 

Geological storage of captured CO2 is a necessary addition to other efforts in the fight against climate change. In recognition of this, the recent “Net Zero Industry Act” set an annual injection capacity target for the EU of 50 million tons by 2030. 

The scale-up of CO2 capture and storage at Hellisheiði has been achieved with the participation of ON Power, Carbfix, and the European Innovation Fund, which provided a €3.9 million grant for the project. The collaboration was under the project name Silverstone, referring to the Icelandic name of a particular variety of the calcium carbonate that forms when CO₂ reacts with basaltic rock formations. 

Edda Sif Pind Aradóttir, CEO of Carbfix:  "This is a major milestone and an important step in the company’s growth toward having a truly positive impact on climate change. Every step matters and this permit places ON Power’s plant at the forefront of the global geothermal sector. With this first onshore storage permit in Europe, Iceland also retains a certain leadership role in building a new industry that is essential to both the EU’s and IPCC’s climate goals."    The project is supported by the European Union. The opinions and views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.