CRI has developed technology that recycles CO₂ to green methanol, and has landed a major contract in China. It is now moving towards listing on Euronext Growth.
TO CATCH CARBON: Icelandic CRI will deliver a plant for recycling CO₂ from this industrial park to Jiangsu Sailboat in Shenghong, China.
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– The majority of the consumer products we use in everyday life are produced in plants with traditional fossil fuels. This must be replaced as soon as possible, says Ingolfur Gudmundsson.
He is head of the Icelandic company Carbon Recycling International (CRI), which has developed a technology that converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen (H2) to “green” methanol.
CRI has now acquired the Chinese petrochemical company Jiangsu Sailboat, which will use the technology to recycle 150,000 tonnes of CO 2 and 20,000 tonnes of H2 from its annual industrial production.
At the other end, there will be an annual volume of 100,000 tonnes of recycled methanol, which is the most important raw material in the Chinese company’s production of various plastic and polymer products, such as solar panels and Plexiglas.
– The recycled carbon-methanol will replace parts of the need for coal at the factory, and contributes to an important shift, says Gudmundsson.
According to CRI, the recovery of CO₂ from this contract alone has an effect equivalent to taking 53,000 fossil-fueled cars off the roads.
– If you compare the reduction with avoiding the use of fossil products, the climate benefit is as much as 550,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, says Gudmundsson.
–MANAGER: Ingolfur Gudmundsson heads CRI.
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Will raise up to 50 million dollars
The plant in China will be owned and operated by Jiangsu Sailboat. Operations are expected to start in 2023.
The cost of the project is estimated at around 35 million dollars, corresponding to just over 300 million Norwegian kroner.
CRI is planning a listing on Euronext Growth during the fourth quarter, and has engaged the brokerages Sparebank 1 Markets and Nordea Markets as facilitators.
Ómar Sigurbjørnsson, director of sales and marketing at CRI, informs E24 that the company was valued at 100 million dollars, just over 855 million kroner at today’s exchange rate, in the previous issue round.
The company now plans to raise $ 30-50 million in new equity in connection with the listing.
Today’s shareholder list includes strategic investors such as the Chinese car giant Geely, which is behind brands such as Volvo and Polestar. Canadian Methanex, the world’s largest producer of methanol, is also on the owner’s side.
The other shares are owned by the investment company Eyrir, the Nordic fund Nefco and various wealthy Icelandic families.
–GOOD MOOD: When CRI recently signed the contract with Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical in China.
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Collaborates with Statkraft
Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical sells around 2.4 million tonnes of chemical products annually, and had a turnover of almost NOK 400 billion last year.
The facility, which will be designed and delivered turnkey by CRI, will be located in the city of Lianyungang, in Jiangsu Province on the east coast of China.
– The world market for methanol is 100 million tonnes annually, and half of this comes from China. At the same time, a need of 400 million tonnes of green, sustainable methanol is expected to meet the chemicals sector’s demand by 2050, says Sigurbjørnsson.
CRI is also collaborating with Statkraft to develop the first commercial plant for the production of “green eMethanol”.
The plant will be located at Finnfjord’s production plant in northern Norway, where CO₂ captured from Finnfjord’s ferrosilicon plant and hydrogen from electrolysis of water with renewable electricity will be used as raw material at the plant.
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