22 June 2023

(EPIC: SRC / Market: AIM / Sector: Construction Materials)

SIGMAROC PLC

 ('SigmaRoc', the 'Group' or the 'Company')

SigmaRoc's first carbon capture facility launched at Nordkalk's Köping site

SigmaRoc plc, the specialist quarried materials group, today announces that it has successfully installed its first carbon capture unit at Nordkalk's site in Köping in Sweden. The fully scalable carbon capture system, utilising Aqualung's innovative membrane technology is the first-ever implementation of its kind in the industry.

The carbon capture system has been developed by Aqualung Carbon Capture AS, a leading provider of membrane-based carbon capture and separation technology based in Norway.

Over the course of the last year, SigmaRoc have reviewed an array of technologies including amine absorption, solid absorption, membrane and cryogenic. The Aqualung membrane technology was considered as best suited for the Group's operations based on the following factors:

-     Small footprint

-     Low capital expenditure

-     Low operating expenditure

-     Low complexity and environmentally friendly

-     Highly efficient

-     Highly favourable energy balance

-     Fully scalable and modular

The Aqualung module installed in Köping can capture up to 25% of the process emissions emitted from a standard kiln process at Nordkalk and was initially designed as a 'capture and release' system to demonstrate the durability and efficiency of the membranes. The unit will also be connected to a pilot purification module to simulate settings required to produce higher purities of CO₂ for different end use applications that go beyond sequestration requirements.

The Group is working with various businesses and solution providers with regards to the end use of CO₂ including being involved with NICE (Norvik Infrastructure CCS East Sweden) project to explore CO₂ utilisation options with various partners.

Nordkalk also secured part-funding from the Swedish Energy Agency for the implementation and scaling of the Köping carbon system with the intention to capitalise on the learning from the engineering, commissioning, and operation phase of the initial module.

The Group will continue to update on the progress as well as our roll-out plan to implement the technology in all of Nordkalk's operating kilns by 2030.

Official Launch

An official launch took take place yesterday at Nordkalk's Köping site to celebrate the significant step in the Company's evolution. National and regional government representatives as well as customers, local communities and other stakeholders were invited to look around the site.

Max Vermorken, CEO of SigmaRoc, commented:

"Alongside our fossil fuel replacement program where we have proven the ability for 100% substitution; the carbon capture system represents a crucial milestone in our journey towards achieving Net Zero by capturing our remaining process emissions."

Henrik Utvik, Founder, President and CTO at Aqualung, commented:

"We are thrilled to unveil our first lime carbon capture plant with SigmaRoc. The project is a crucial stepping-stone towards our ambitious goal of large-scale carbon capture across a wide range of industries including lime, cement, steel, and refineries."

Klara Helstad, Head of Sustainable industry at the Swedish Energy Agency comments:

"This project, funded via the Industrial Leap, is an important step towards the realisation of a full-scale value chain for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) - or utilisation (CCU) - at the Nordkalk Köping site. The results can then be of use in future implementations at other industrial sites"

Information on the Company is available on its website, www.sigmaroc.com.

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About Sigmaroc plc

SigmaRoc PLC is an AIM-listed buy-and-build group targeting construction materials assets in the UK and Northern Europe. It seeks to create value by purchasing assets in fragmented construction materials markets and extracting efficiencies through active management and by forming the assets into larger groups. It seeks to derisk its investments via strong asset backing at its projects.