GD Power Development Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CHN Energy, recently signed a CCS technology service agreement with Germany's RWE AG and simultaneously launched a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study for a carbon capture retrofit at the Essen-Karnap waste-to-energy plant. The partnership marks the export of CHN Energy's carbon capture technology for the first time.
The collaboration is led by the CHN Energy Coal-based Energy Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Technology Research and Development Center, established by GD Power as the core R&D platform. Drawing on years of technological breakthroughs in high-efficiency, low-energy-consumption and low-cost carbon capture, the project will accelerate the commercialization of the company's proprietary carbon capture technologies developed for coal-fired power generation while extending their application to non-coal sectors,including waste-to-energy and natural gas-fired power generation.
This collaboration represents the first time that CHN Energy's carbon capture achievements have entered an overseas market through technology export. The scope of services covers key aspects of carbon capture, including the development of proprietary absorbents and process package design. Building on this foundation, the two sides will further cooperate on carbon capture technologies for gas-fired generating units, promoting the application of mature, low-cost carbon capture technologies originally developed for coal-fired power generation to non-coal applications, with the goal of developing versatile technical solutions adaptable to multiple emission sources and operating conditions.
RWE AG has closely tracked the development of GD Power's low-cost carbon capture technology for coal-fired power generation for many years and spent more than a year evaluating its technological maturity and engineering performance. In May 2025, an RWE delegation visited GD Power's 150,000-ton-per-year CCUS demonstration project for an on-site assessment and formally proposed cooperation on carbon capture technology. Thereafter, GD Power, together with NICE Europe Research GmbH, held more than ten rounds of technical discussions and reciprocal visits with RWE AG.
The two sides conducted in-depth exchanges on key issues, including the direction of technical cooperation and collaborative working mechanisms, reaching a preliminary consensus. In December 2025, they officially signed a confidentiality agreement, establishing a solid foundation of compliance and mutual trust. In July 2026, the two parties formally entered into a strategic cooperation agreement, moving their carbon capture collaboration into full execution.
