Mälarenergi has decided to pause the large-scale introduction of carbon capture at its Västerås heat plant, despite a successful test installation. The company cites high costs as the reason, with building the capture facility estimated to cost around 4 billion kronor. The lack of infrastructure for storing or reusing the captured carbon dioxide also hinders the plan, which aimed to prevent about 200,000 tons of fossil carbon dioxide from being released annually into the atmosphere.
This amount is equivalent to approximately 200,000 flights from Stockholm to New York. A smaller test facility was built in Västerås in 2024-2025, where part of the flue gases were cleaned of carbon dioxide, and the attempt went well. However, plans for a full-scale facility are now on hold, with the company stating that current subsidies and systems do not allow for the investment.