It wasn’t just a government subsidy of a little over a billion euros for biogenic CO2 storage that Biocirc announced on Wednesday. At the same time, another but equally spectacular addition to the company was announced: Ørsted COO and Senior Vice President, P2X Anders Christian Nordstrøm, who has been snapped up as CEO of the young project developer’s Power-to-X business.

Although the job titles are similar, there are several differences. For example, the timing of the announcement with the tender win is not entirely coincidental, as the new CEO will be in charge of the CO₂ storage work. However, it is not so much a breakthrough as it is the closing of the circle - or in this case, the Biocircle. 

”Pendulums tend to swing back and forth,” says Nordstrøm, adding:

”When I started at Ørsted 17 years ago, one of my tasks was to develop a CO₂ and CCS strategy. Of course, with the significant difference that the idea back then was to build an awful lot of coal power and store the carbon, whereas at Biocirc, biogas is the primary business for the time being.” 

Only the first step

For now, CO2 will be captured and stored from six of Biocirc’s eight biogas plants. However, the ambitious project developer not only plans to expand biogas production at home and abroad, but also to expand the business horizontally on several fronts. 

The biogas plants will be complemented by nearby onshore wind and solar facilities, and while it will initially provide green gas, electricity and by-products such as waste heat and other residual production, it also aims to eventually produce green fuels. The one million tonnes of CO2 to be stored in connection with the NECCS tender is intended for other uses when the contract expires in 2032. 

”My role will be to build a business on top of the different products. The first step is CCS, but Biocirc doesn’t stop there, as the thinking is to create value from the incredible synergies that can be realised by having it all in one place,” says the new PTX CEO.

”It will run in parallel, where we will of course store what we have promised, but where we will also find other uses for the rest of it.”

Opportunity to set the direction

For the time being, it is Nordstrøm who has found a new purpose. That he chose Biocirc, a relatively small firm, may seem surprising for someone with his track record - and given Ørsted’s status as a major supplier of senior executives to large corporations such as CIP, Shell and BP. But other things matter more than size to the new CEO. 

”I’ve been in dialogue with a number of different companies since I left Ørsted. But Biocirc was the most exciting,” he says, elaborating: 

”Basically, it’s perhaps a slightly smaller company. But that also means that there’s a greater opportunity to help set the direction. I have been looking for the right dynamic and wanted the opportunity to help define the journey of a company more than the safe choice; at the end of the day, you don’t go to work to look at your paycheck, but to make a difference with interesting people.” 

Nordstrøm’s first day of work at Biocirc is 1 June.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Catherine Brett)