Vow ASA: Aiming for large scale decarbonising of European gas grid with pyrolysis gas

Europe’s second largest gas distributor, GRTgaz of France, and Vow subsidiary ETIA recently marked production start of a demo plant built to confirm that CO2 neutral pyrolysis gas can replace fossil gas in the European gas grid.

The start of the test campaign marks an important achievement in Synthane, a technology programme launched by GRTgaz and ETIA in 2016, and one of several programmes aimed at demonstrating that CO2 neutral pyrolysis gas produced at large scale from biomass and biogenic waste can replace fossil Natural Gas in the European gas grid. The programme features well-proven technology from ETIA, Vow’s technology and equipment manufacturing subsidiary.

"This is another example of the versatility and relevance of our technology for decarbonising industry and society at large. With the current cost of energy and carbon emissions, and governments’ ambitions to halt global warming, our CO2 neutral solutions offer a realistic and increasingly attractive alternative to fossil carbon in many applications,” said Henrik Badin, CEO of Vow ASA.

"Moreover, with the prospect of being able to enter long-term contracts to deliver CO2 neutral gas to the grid, our offering becomes even more attractive. With biogenic waste and other organic material as feedstock, our solutions would for instance produce both biocarbon as reduction agent for metallurgical industry and CO2 neutral gas for the grid, further increasing the economic value of our solutions”, explained Badin.

The demonstration plant, which is now in operation, features a well-proven Biogreen pyrolysis unit from ETIA in a novel combination with methanation technology. In the process, the feedstock (forest biomass, non-recyclable plastics, and solids from household waste) is heated in the absence of oxygen to crack into high-value gaseous molecules. In the next processing step, this gas is converted in a catalytic unit into methane which can be injected and replace fossil natural gas in existing gas grids.

A recent study in France made by GRTGAZ and GRDF, both major gas transportation and distribution companies in Europe shows a 320 TWh realistic potential of renewable methane production from biomass to cover one hundred percent of the methane need in 2050 (Potentiel Gaz Renouvelable France, Janvier 2022). This paper shows that pyrolysis and gasification technologies could cover 90 TWh which corresponds to 28% of the total forecasted production of renewable methane in 2050.

Decarbonising technology from Vow has already been selected by leading companies in a wide range of industry verticals, including energy, steel, non-ferrous metals, and consumer industries.

See also GRTgaz news announcement about the project here: https://www.grtgaz.com/en/medias/press-releases/test-to-produce-low-carbon-and-renewable-gas

For more information, please contact

Henrik Badin, CEO, Vow ASA
Tel: + 47 90 78 98 25
Email: henrik.badin@vowasa.com

Erik Magelssen, CFO, Vow ASA
Tel: +47 928 88 728
Email: erik.magelssen@vowasa.com

About Vow

Vow and its subsidiaries Scanship and Etia are passionate about preventing pollution. The company’s world leading solutions convert biomass and waste into valuable resources and generate clean energy for a wide range of industries.

Cruise ships on every ocean have Vow technology inside which processes waste and purifies wastewater. Fish farmers are adopting similar solutions, and public utilities and industries use our solutions for sludge processing, waste management and biogas production on land.

With advanced technologies and solutions, Vow turns waste into biogenetic fuels to help decarbonise industry and convert plastic waste into fuel, clean energy, and high-value pyro carbon. The solutions are scalable, standardised, patented, and thoroughly documented, and the company’s capability to deliver is well proven. They are key to end waste and stop pollution.

Located in Oslo, the parent company Vow ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker VOW).