WAI Environmental Solutions AS and Ottem Resirk AS have jointly established Ottem CarbonWorks AS (OCW) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a state-of-the-art pyrolysis factory at Sunndal Næringspark in Sunndalsøra in Møre and Romsdal. The pyrolysis factory is a part of a large industrial development at Sunndalsøra where OCW is the first step.
OCW will treat biomass from several sources and produce biochar and renewable thermal energy for the biogas plant and aquaculture park that are being established at Sunndal Næringspark. OCW will be jointly built, owned, and operated by Ottem and WAI, which will create about 40 new jobs in the plant and the associated logistic operations. OCW will have a design capacity of 40000 tons/year biomass such as demolition wood, bark, sawdust, and impregnated wood and will produce renewable energy equal to the demand from 3000 households.
The pyrolysis plant at OCW delivered by WAI will also produce 7000 tons of biochar and activated carbon (a product from biochar) per year that will be available for both agricultural and industrial applications on domestic and international markets. Each ton of biochar from demolition wood can store up to 3.3 ton of CO2. With an annual production of 7000 ton biochar and activated carbon, we expect an average of 18000 ton CO2 emissions avoidance each year.
OCW is planned to be commissioned in 2022.
WAI Environmental Solutions AS is a technology company with headquarter in Horten. Founded in 2017, WAI is developing environmental solutions for closing the circular economy gaps. Due to lack of treatment capacity Norway is exporting hundreds of thousands of tons of demolition wood and impregnated wood each year and a lot of it is for incineration. WAI pyrolysis solution enables material recycling for demolition wood and impregnated wood via biochar, activated carbon and renewable energy production. Biochar is recognized as a negative emission technology (carbon storage) by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC).
Ottem Resirk AS is a part of the Ottem Group established at Sunndalsøra. The company is involved with recycling, sorting, packing and transportation of used carbon from the electrolysis ovens at Sunndalsøra, as well as maintenance of the anodes. Ottem has developed the overall plans for the pyrolysis factory and biogas plant. They are planning to convert their trailer fleet to biogas fuel as soon as it is available. The Ottem Group is also performing stone crushing and clean-up of soil-masses by means of mobile equipment, road and tunnel maintenance and various heavy duty excavation work.
