PORSGRUNN, Norway, February 6 /PRNewswire/ -- On behalf of the future partnership of the European CO2 Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM), StatoilHydro has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Aker Clean Carbon AS for an amine plant at TCM. The contract has a value of approximately NOK 525 million.

Aker Clean Carbon won the contract in an international competition with other contractors.

According to plans, TCM shall test two different technologies for capturing CO2 from two flue gas sources with respectively low and high CO2 contents. The contract with Aker Clean Carbon AS for amine technology lasts until the end of 2011.

In addition, it is planned that TCM shall also test the chilled-ammonia CO­2-process. The TCM project is working on putting into place an equivalent contract with another contractor.

The participants in TCM's planning phase are DONG Energy, Gassnova SF, A/S Norske Shell, StatoilHydro ASA and Vattenfall AB, with Gassnova SF representing the Norwegian Government in the project. The final investment decision for TCM is expected to be made in spring 2009.

The contract that has been signed with Aker Clean Carbon AS is an important milestone for TCM. The ambitions for TCM as a testing arena are high. Especially, there are expectations that the centre will provide various learning effects regarding technology scale-up, operational conditions, environmental consequences and the testing of sub-contractor deliverables. One of the goals of testing amines is to qualify the technology for the large-scale treatment of exhaust gases, and at the same time develop cost-efficient technologies, says Bjorn-Erik Haugan, the managing director of Gassnova, on behalf of the TCM partnership.

We are very pleased to have been chosen as the contractor for testing amine technology at TCM. The construction of the test centre at Mongstad will be a pillar for the further development of Aker Clean Carbon in an international CCS market, says Jan Roger Bjerkestrand, the managing director of Aker Clean Carbon.

For more information: http://www.gassnova.no

Contact persons: Managing Director Bjorn-Erik Haugan, beh@gassnova.no, +47-905-53-394; Managing Director Jan Roger Bjerkestrand, jan.bjerkestrand@akercleancarbon.com, +47-911-20-565