Carbon management market in Austria

In 2023, Austria was among the 9 European Union (EU) member (alongside Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Cyprus, Latvia, Finland, Slovenia, and Lithuania), that prohibited the geological storage of carbon dioxide. Austria launched a carbon management strategy on in 2024.

This plan aims to support Austria's ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2040. The strategy focuses on three key technologies: Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU), and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). These technologies will address emissions from industries and other sectors that are difficult to eliminate entirely.

The plan has two phases. The first phase, currently underway, assesses Austria's current carbon management situation and outlines steps to regulate the reduction of hard-to-cut emissions through these technologies. In the second phase, they will focus on putting these plans into action.

Aligned with the EU's Industrial Carbon Management Strategy, Austria's approach underscores the critical role of carbon capture technologies in Europe's broader decarbonization efforts. Additionally, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology has commissioned a study to explore the feasibility of CO₂ pipelines.

Austria has determined that CCS will be deployed for the decarbonization of hard to abate industries, excluding the energy sector:

• Cement
• Limestone
• Waste incineration (Wien Energie)
• Refractory industry (RHI)
• Iron ore mining (Erzberg in Styria)

In recent years, the technology portfolio for CCS and CCU has been greatly expanded. The technology offer has also been further developed and in select cases has already reached a very high level of technological maturity (TRL 9). Austrian industrial companies are also showing increasing interest.

Key opportunities for Canadian carbon tech companies in Austria

• Closing the knowledge gap in Austria with the expertise of Canadian companies and their technologies.
• Sectors with unavoidable residual emissions in the future, such as municipal waste incineration and cement production, represent an opportunity for Canadian companies to establish themselves.

Notable challenges for Canadian carbon tech companies in Austria

• CCU systems require high grid connection capacities.
• Interest in industrial decarbonization through carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is growing, but buyers often request technologies that are already commercially ready. This shows a lack of understanding of the CCU sector. Even though Canada is a world leader in the development of carbon utilization technologies, the sector is still new, and only a limited number of technologies are at the maturity levels that buyers are seeking. Most of these technologies need to be adapted for specific uses, rather than offering a simple "plug and play" solution that many buyers expect.
• The necessary infrastructure must be created in Austria/Europe (e.g. CO₂ pipelines, CO₂ hubs and a connection from Austria to CO₂ backbones).
• Public acceptance is a hurdle that CCU/CCS must overcome.
• The regulatory framework is evolving.

Austrian business landscape

• Conditions for foreign investment are excellent given the high level of social security and political stability.
• International companies entering the Austrian market can access funding opportunities.

Projects

• Under the "Carbon2ProductAustria" (C2PAT) project, Lafarge, OMV, Verbund and Borealis have come together to develop a carbon capture plant in Austria by 2030. The project aims to reduce emissions from cement production and use the CO₂ as feedstock on an industrial scale. This plant will eventually capture almost 100% of the annually emitted 700,000 tonnes of CO₂ at Lafarge's cement plant in Mannersdorf, Austria. The aim is to ultimately use the captured CO₂ In combination with green hydrogen (from renewable energies) produced by Verbund. OMV will then transform the CO₂ to hydrocarbons using renewable energy, which in turn, can be used to produce renewable based fuels or be utilised by Borealis as a feedstock to manufacture value-add plastics.
• In 2019, Shell launched a one-year pilot project with the Vienna University of Technology, the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), and six other partners to capture CO₂ from the exhaust gases of a biomass power plant in Vienna. The project captured 0.7 tons of CO₂ per day. Work is now underway to develop the technology to commercial scale to capture 200 times more CO₂.
• MCi Carbon, an Australian clean technology platform, has initiated preliminary engineering work for its inaugural large-scale industrial plant in collaboration with refractories leader RHI Magnesita. With additional multi-million-dollar investment from RHI Magnesita, MCi Carbon aims to scale up and commercialize its CCU technology. RHI Magnesita, MCi Carbon's first global commercial customer, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to decarbonize its operations at the beginning of 2024. The ongoing construction of the Myrtle facility in Newcastle, Australia, will enable CO₂ abatement through customer-focused trial campaigns, addressing decarbonization challenges in sectors such as steel, cement, mining, and manufacturing.
• ANDRITZ, a leader in CCUS, has developed solutions to remove CO₂ from flue gases. With over 15 years of experience, ANDRITZ has tested CCUS solutions across various industries. The company's liquid amine process, which binds and absorbs CO₂, offers high removal rates and produces a pure CO₂ product. ANDRITZ's technology is already proven in the cement industry, where it aims to curb emissions and contribute to global net-zero goals. Additionally, the captured CO₂ can benefit the pulp and paper industry by enabling the production of biofibers, e-fuels, and green ammonia.

Summary

Evolving regulatory changes including the EU Net Zero Industry Act present opportunities for Canadian technology and solution providers to address knowledge gaps and contribute to a potential CO₂ pipeline network, despite challenges related to infrastructure, public acceptance, and nascency of the industry.

Distinction on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) vs. Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU, also known as CarbonTech) is important. Countries without ability for large scale storage of captured carbon dioxide, for geographic, infrastructure or political reasons, will gravitate towards Canadian CCU/CarbonTech solutions, where Canada has a well-known global advantage and solutions nation wide. These solutions are particularly relevant to heavy industrial processes including cement, steel, and chemical production which match well with heavy industry in EU countries.

For more information on the carbon management market in Austria please contact:

Susanne Knobloch
Email: susanne.knobloch@international.gc.ca
Telephone: +43 1 531 38 3354