TECHNOLOGY CENTRE MONGSTAD

Their core work

Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) is the world's largest facility for testing and qualifying carbon capture technologies, located at Norway's Mongstad refinery complex. They provide real industrial-scale test infrastructure where companies and research consortia can validate CO2 capture processes — from novel sorbent materials like metal-organic frameworks to enzymatic solvents and packed-bed absorbers — under actual flue gas conditions. In H2020, TCM contributed primarily as a test site and industrial validation partner: bridging laboratory-scale innovations to deployment readiness for cement, biorefinery, waste-to-energy, and power plant applications. Their core value is not research invention but real-world proof — they can confirm whether a CCS technology actually works at scale before anyone commits to full deployment.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TCM's H2020 engagement began with a materials and process focus — MOF sorbents, swing adsorption cycles (VPSA, MBTSA), and proof-of-concept carbon capture configurations. Their more recent project shifted toward industrial application breadth: cement, biorefinery, waste-to-energy, and concrete recarbonation, alongside full CCUS chain optimization and sustainable city contexts. The shift signals a move from validating individual capture technologies to demonstrating CCS viability across the entire hard-to-abate industrial landscape — from material to deployment at multiple scales and sectors.

TCM is evolving from a single-technology test host into a multi-sector CCUS demonstration hub, making them an increasingly relevant partner for any consortium needing industrial-scale validation across hard-to-abate industries.

How they like to work

TCM participates exclusively as a consortium partner — never as coordinator in their H2020 portfolio — which reflects their role as a specialist infrastructure provider rather than a project driver. With 40 unique partners across 12 countries spread over just 2 projects, their consortia are large and internationally diverse, typical of flagship CCS research projects. This suggests they are sought out for their physical testing assets and are accustomed to operating within complex multi-partner structures without leading the administrative workload.

TCM has built connections with 40 unique consortium partners across 12 countries through just two projects, indicating each project brought a large, diverse international consortium. Their Norwegian base and industrial identity likely attract both Northern European energy sector partners and pan-European CCS research networks.

What sets them apart

Technology Centre Mongstad is one of very few facilities globally that can test post-combustion CO2 capture at true industrial scale, using real flue gases from an operating refinery — something no university lab or pilot plant can replicate. For any CCS technology developer needing TRL 6–8 validation, TCM's infrastructure is a near-irreplaceable asset, making them a high-value consortium partner with low substitutability. Their positioning at an active refinery also gives direct access to real industrial process conditions across multiple flue gas compositions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MOF4AIR
  The largest of TCM's two H2020 projects (EUR 1.27M), it represents a high-risk, high-reward bet on metal-organic frameworks as next-generation solid sorbents for CCS — a significant departure from conventional amine scrubbing.
• ACCSESS
  Covers the broadest industrial scope of TCM's portfolio — cement, biorefinery, waste-to-energy, and concrete recarbonation in a single project — making it a flagship demonstration of CCUS replicability across hard-to-abate sectors.