Carbfix has announced plans to build a CO2 Mineral Storage Terminal in Straumsvík in southwest Iceland. The terminal will be equipped to receive large quantities of CO2 transported by ship andinject it into the basaltic bedrock where it turns into stone. The facility will be called Coda Terminal and Carbfix estimates that its construction and operation will create 600 jobs, directly and indirectly.
At full scale, the Coda Terminal will provide annual storage amounting to three million tonnes of CO2. Carbfix CEO Edda Sif Pind Aradóttir states that „The Coda Terminal will receive CO2 transported by specifically designed ships operating on sustainable fuel. The transport of CO2 to Iceland is enabled by the low costs associated with onshore mineral storage. The Carbfix technology will then be used to permanently and safely turn CO2 into stone, deep in within the basaltic bedrock. The Terminal will also be able to store CO2 from local industries, as well as CO2 captured directly from the air (DAC).”
The Coda Terminal will be constructed in three phases, with a full-scale capacity of three million tonnes of CO2 annually. The preparation phase will begin in 2021 with engineering and permitting processes. Drilling of the first wells will start in 2022, with the aim of commencing operations in 2025 and reaching full scale by 2030.
The Carbfix technology is based on dissolving CO2 in water before injecting it deep underground, where it turns into solid minerals in less than two years. It doesn’t require much except water, electricity, CO2 and reactive rock formations such as basalts, and according to Carbfix, the area around Straumsvík is ideal. “The environment in Straumsvík, with its fresh basaltic lavas and vast sources of groundwater streams, is perfectly suited for permanent and safe CO2 mineral storage. The power requirements are minimal, and the transmission grid and an industrial harbour are already in place,” says Edda, adding that the storage capacity is more than sufficient, as Carbfix geologists estimate that Iceland alone could store around 80-200 times the annual global emission of CO2.
The name, Coda, comes from music and refers to a concluding passage that brings the musical piece to a satisfactory
