Newcastle clean technology company MCi Carbon has marked the beginning of construction of its Australian flagship carbon capture and utilisation facility on Kooragang Island.
The Myrtle Foundation Ceremony, held on Wednesday, represented a major milestone in the company's journey to scale its clean technology solution to tackle global carbon dioxide emissions.
Myrtle is the final step towards validating the MCi's technology for large scale industrial deployments with its customers in Europe, Japan, Australia and the US.
The technology captures and transforms carbon dioxide from a harmful gas emission into solid carbon embodied materials. These can be used in cement, concrete, plasterboard, glass, paper and many other manufactured products and as green inputs into the world's future built environment.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen placed a low-carbon cement brick in the site's 'Pathway to Net Zero'.
"The regions that have powered Australia for so long are those that will drive our clean energy future for decades to come - and no more so than the Hunter. Today is a good day for the Hunter, for Australia and for MCi Carbon as an innovative Australian technology," Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.
"We're creating positive change for our future, our planet, and our decarbonisation while creating thousands of good-paying, highly-skilled jobs."
Orica chief executive and managing director Sanjeev Gandhi, Japanese Ambassador to Australia Mr Suzuki Kazuhiro and Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon were also in attendance.
"MCi Carbon's technology at scale has the capability to change the trajectory of the global path to net zero by permanently and safely locking away more than 10 per cent of global emissions when scaled," MCi Carbon founder and chief executive Marcus Dawe said.
"What I hold in my hand today represents the real, tangible progress our team is making towards global climate change mitigation."
MCi Carbon has been developing its groundbreaking mineral carbonation technology for more than a decade.
MCi secured $14.6 million from the Australian Government Carbon Capture Use and Storage Development Fund in 2021 to build Myrtle as part of the government's low emissions and renewable energy strategy.
The plant is now under construction in partnership with Orica, its major investor and industrial partner.
MCi's Newcastle plant will transform over 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum captured from Orica's ammonia plant and produce nearly 10,000 tonnes of valuable new low carbon embodied materials.
Myrtle is due to be completed, commissioned and operational by early 2025.
The foundation ceremony follows significant global investment in MCi Carbon, including Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank which joined existing Japanese investors ITOCHU Corporation and Mizuho Bank as Japan accelerates its transition to net zero emissions.
MCi commenced preliminary engineering work in Europe in January 2024 for its first industrial large-scale plant in collaboration with RHI Magnesita, the Austrian-founded global leader in high-grade refractory products, systems, and solutions.
Securing the first demonstration campaign with Myrtle, RHI Magnesita plans to scale the MCi technology capture and transform around 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year to create carbon negative products for its European customers, bolstered by a $10-million investment from RHI Magnesita to scale-up MCi's technology.
EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson visited MCi's Carbon's facilities last weekend to gain insights into the technology's potential for advancing the EU's CO2 reduction goals, highlighting the pivotal role of CCU technology for the decarbonisation both in Europe and globally.
