TECO 2030 granted up to NOK 4 million in tax relief for carbon capture development

TECO 2030 has been granted up to NOK 4 million in tax relief as indirect government support for developing solutions that will capture CO₂ in the ship exhaust and store it until the ship reaches port.

TECO 2030 granted up to NOK 4 million in tax relief for carbon capture development
Photo: TECO 2030

The support has been granted through the Research Council of Norway’s Skattefunn scheme, which is a tax deduction scheme designed to stimulate research and development (R&D) activities in Norwegian companies. It provides indirect support in the form of tax deductions on costs related to implemented research and development activities.

Tore Enger, CEO of TECO 2030 ASA, says:

“We are currently in the process of developing technological solutions that will enable ships running on fossil fuels to reduce their emissions and become more climate-friendly by capturing the CO2 that they would otherwise emit with their exhaust gases.”

“We are very pleased and thankful for the support we have now received from the Research Council of Norway to this end. The recognition of carbon capture as an emissions reduction technology for the maritime industry represents a milestone in our efforts.”

The project that has been granted tax relief involves the development and testing of onboard solutions that can capture more than 90% of the CO2 in the ship exhaust. The tax relief granted to TECO 2030 under the Skattefunn scheme will cover 19% of the costs accrued in this project, up to about NOK 4 million over the project period of two years, 2021 and 2022.

TECO 2030 is developing carbon capture solutions for ships together with the American technology company Chart Industries, Inc. The solutions will separate the CO2 from the ship’s exhaust gases and store it in liquid form until it can be offloaded when the ship has reached port.

When offloaded, the CO2 can then either be permanently stored in geological formations underground or be put to beneficial use in CO2-consuming industries, such as the agricultural, industrial, energy, or food and beverage sectors.

Carbon capture technology has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry by more than 30% by 2050, according to DNV’s Maritime Forecast to 2050, which was published last week.

TECO 2030 is currently in the process of separating its carbon capture business unit into a separate entity fully owned by TECO 2030 ASA. The new entity will be known as TECO 2030 Carbon Capture AS and will be based in Narvik in northern Norway.