E.ON Maasvlakte

To tackle climate change effectively, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must be radically reduced. In view of the continued increase in energy demand worldwide, E.ON's efforts to achieve technological advances in conventional generation make an important contribution to the avoidance of carbon emissions. Fossil fuels like coal provide much of the world's electricity but won't be fully replaced by low-emission generating technologies for decades to come. That's why the utility industry is focusing its research and development on an innovative process called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), which would make it possible to generate electricity from coal with nearly zero emissions. That would mean that the world's coal reserves (which estimates predict will last for more than 100 years) could be used to provide a secure, affordable, and climate-friendly supply of electricity.

E.ON is investing in numerous R&D projects related to post-combustion capture, mainly to maximize thermal efficiency and perfect the scrubbing process. To give our R&D the best chances for success, we're working with the world's leading equipment manufacturers and with internationally renowned research institutes.

Within CATO-2 project

The CATO-2 Catcher pilot unit is located at the E.ON Maasvlakte coal-fired power station in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and became operational in April 2008. It captures about 250 kg of CO2 per hour, comparable to 0.4 MWe from a full scale coal fired power plant. This CO2 is then mixed with the flue gas and vented. The goal is to test the performance of different absorption liquids in order to lower the energy penalty of the CO2 capture.

ROAD project

The experience gained during these tests is a necessary step in the development of full scale post combustion capture. E.ON Benelux is one of the two partners in the ROAD project. ROAD stands for Rotterdam Afvang en Opslag Demonstratieproject (Rotterdam capture and storage demonstration project) and is one of the biggest demonstration projects in the world for capture and storage at sea. Besides E.ON Benelux, Electrabel, Group GDF SUEZ is partner in the joint venture. Together they form the Maasvlakte CCS Project C.V.

From 2015, ROAD will capture around 1.1 million ton CO2 per year and store it in gas reservoirs under the North Sea, which have stopped production. ROAD is a demonstration project with the aim to apply an integrated CO2- capture, -transport and storage (Carbon Capture & Storage or CCS) on industrial scale.