ExxonMobil Corp. said Monday it plans to build a plant at its Rotterdam Manufacturing Complex in the Netherlands using carbonate fuel cell technology to pilot capturing carbon emissions in an industrial environment.

ExxonMobil said it has jointly developed the CFC technology with U.S. company FuelCell Energy Inc., the companies said in a statement.

According to the companies, carbonate fuel cells can capture CO2 emissions from industrial sources before they are released into the atmosphere, while also making valuable co-products.

"The unique advantage of this technology is that it not only captures CO2 but also produces low carbon power, heat, and hydrogen as co-products," Geoff Richardson, ExxonMobil's senior vice president of Commercial and Business Development for Low Carbon Solutions, said in a statement.

Through its Esso affiliate in the Netherlands, ExxonMobil said the pilot plant at Rotterdam, a major economic center and seaport in Northwestern Europe, aims to obtain data on performance and operability of the CFC technology.

Additionally, the pilot aims to "address potential technical issues that may occur in a commercial environment and better understand the costs of installing and operating a CFC plant for carbon capture," according to the statement.

Pending a successful demonstration, ExxonMobil said it could "commercialize" the technology at the major's manufacturing facilities and at other industrial sites around the world and to help customers reduce their emissions.

The captured CO2 will be transported and stored via the Porthos project in Rotterdam - a partnership between Air Liquide, Air Products, Shell and ExxonMobil - for permanent storage under the North Sea, according to the statement.


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--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly,mkelly@opisnet.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-18-23 1511ET