Three Swedish waste-to-energy operators will share SEK 9.3bn to capture and permanently store 5.75 million tonnes of biogenic CO2, leaving little of the national budget unspent.
The Swedish Energy Agency has awarded SEK 9.3bn in the country’s second bio-CCS auction, it said on 16 October. Sysav, Öresundskraft and Renova will share the money. Together, they plan to capture and store 5.75 million tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide.
Sysav takes the largest share, with 3.6 million tonnes. Next comes Öresundskraft with 1.26 million tonnes, while Renova plans 890,000 tonnes over the support period. The agency didn’t give a separate amount for each company.
How the reverse auction works
The scheme pays operators to capture carbon dioxide from burning biomass and store it underground. In a reverse auction, bidders compete by asking for the lowest support per tonne. As a result, the public money goes to the projects that ask for the least per tonne.
Three operators applied in this round, which closed on 13 August. All three met the tender rules and showed workable plans for capture, transport and geological storage. The support can cover both investment and operating costs. This was the second time the agency has used the format.
However, the money doesn’t arrive up front. Each company must start storing CO2 within four years of the decision. The agency then pays out on an ongoing basis once storage begins.
Sysav’s Malmö project
Sysav says its own award is SEK 6.3bn, or about two thirds of the round. The money backs SkyZero, a large carbon capture project at its waste-to-energy plant in Malmö. That plant burns residual waste and supplies district heating and electricity.
Its flue gas holds both biogenic and fossil CO2. So for every tonne of biogenic CO2 it stores, Sysav says it will also capture about a tonne of fossil CO2. Much of that comes from plastic in the waste.
The award covers capture, transport and permanent storage over 15 years. Payments depend on verified geological storage. Even so, Sysav hasn’t yet taken an investment decision, and it’s still working on financing, supplier deals and the commercial framework.
“This is very welcome news and an important step forward for both Sysav and the wider industry,” said Malin Dahlroth, chief executive of Sysav. The company, which 14 municipalities own, can also sell verified negative emissions as carbon removal credits.
A budget nearly spent
Sweden’s bio-CCS scheme has a total budget of SEK 30.7bn, running to 2046. After this round, about SEK 29.3bn is now committed. That leaves roughly SEK 1.4bn, which is small next to the sums awarded so far.
Most of the money went in the first bio-CCS auction. In January 2025, Stockholm Exergi won SEK 20bn and plans to store more than 11 million tonnes of CO2 over its support period. The agency has run the programme since 2021, and the scheme won approval in 2024.
Sweden opened that support scheme for bioenergy with carbon capture to bidders in 2024. Two auctions later, almost all of its funding is allocated.
What the agency says
Caroline Asserup, the agency’s director-general, called the awards a step forward on Sweden’s path to its climate targets. She said the scheme also creates business opportunities in a new industry that strengthens Swedish competitiveness.
Carl Mikael Strauss, a unit manager at the agency, said the reverse auction lets the bidders with the greatest climate benefit access public funds. He added that interest in this second bio-CCS auction shows that firms want to develop the technology in Sweden. That holds even though the market is still at an early stage, in his view.
For the three winners, the clock now starts. Each has four years to begin storage, and none will receive support until CO2 is safely underground.
