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Please take contact if you need further information

Joakim Leirfall
Operations Manager, NORCE Technology Park Risavika
Energivegen 16, 4056 Tananger, Norway

jole@norceresearch.no
+47 410 00 883

NORCE conducts its own research and development activities in national and international projects within the technology park. In addition, operators from research and industry rent facilities for testing, development, and upscaling of their own production processes. The collection of various operators in the park facilitates collaboration, technology development, and industrialization.

Laboratories, pilot halls, and outdoor areas are designed for the development of technologies and processes, as well as upscaling them to pilot scale. NORCE Technology Park Risavika is primarily designed for industrial biotechnology, circular bioeconomy, and carbon capture and utilization technologies using CO2 and other waste streams.

Research at NORCE Technology Park Risavika includes gas fermentation. Microorganisms are fed with hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a fermentation tank. In the tank, the microorganisms convert the gases into protein-rich meal, which can be used in feed for farmed salmon, among other things.

Facilities in NORCE Technology Park Risavika:

  • existing infrastructure and support systems for working with natural gas, H2, and CO2
  • sufficient grid power
  • pilot and test facilities specialized for developing gas value chains
  • offices
  • infrastructure and pilot halls for linking, testing, and upscaling new technologies and processes for CO2 and hydrogen
  • an established operational organization and industrial operational competence
  • established emergency and safety systems.

Norwegian Bioprocessing and Fermentation Centre (NBioC)

  • NBioC develops and tests new technologies for utilizing the many bio-waste streams and gas resources in Norway. Microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast, and algae can convert these waste streams into ingredients for food, feed, chemicals, and sustainable fuels through new fermentation processes.
  • At NBioC, gas fermentation has been specifically adapted, where microorganisms can convert CO2 and H2 into new products and biomass. This requires facilities and support systems that are adapted to working with gas.
  • NBioC is also tailored for scaling up and piloting to demonstrate technologies and processes before further industrialization.

Gas 2 Feed AS

  • established by EcoFishCircle AS and NORCE in 2021, uses biotechnology and microorganisms in gas fermentation to convert CO2 into proteins for use in fish feed, among other things.
  • The Gas2Feed concept uses recycled CO2 from energy production facilities and develops fish feed that can reduce emissions in the aquaculture industry.
  • Gas2Feed is developing its production technology and upscaling a production line to pilot size in our pilot halls.

EU PyroCO2

  • EU PyroCO2 is a project carried out by NORCE in our laboratories and pilot halls for gas fermentation. The aim is to develop microbial conversion of CO2
  • and H2 into acetone, which is currently produced from fossil raw materials.
  • Acetone can be further processed into a range of other products and materials.
  • The goal is to upscale the new production process in several steps to pilot (1000 L) scale at NORCE Technology Park Risavika and, thereafter, to 150,000-liter scale at Herøy Industry Park.

Risavika Hydrogen HUB

  • The Risavika Hydrogen HUB project was established by NORCE, Lyse, SEID, and the Energy Transition Norway cluster in 2022, based on the infrastructure of the NORCE Technology Park Risavika.
  • The goal is to establish a test center and innovation hub to mature new hydrogen technologies for value chains through faster testing, scaling, and validation.
  • The partners are developing new hydrogen value chains and testing new technologies for the production, storage, transportation, and utilization of hydrogen in the NORCE Technology Park Risavika.
  • Users and partners of the Risavika Hydrogen HUB will be actors within gas technology who are interested in testing and demonstrating various solutions with a main focus on hydrogen. This includes the entire value chain from production to end-user.

SEID AS with EU ColdSpark

  • The EU project ColdSpark will be performed in our pilot halls for Htesting. ColdSpark is an innovation project organized by the company SEID AS in collaboration with NORCE and several partners.
  • The project aims to develop and test a new plasma reactor for hydrogen and solid carbon production with low energy costs (<15 kWh/kg produced H2) without the need for catalysts and water.

The NORCE Technology Park Risavika was established in 2022 when NORCE took over the property and facility. The original facility was opened in 2008 and was then called the Risavika Gas Centre (RGC) - a test center for the development of new technology for sustainable production and use of natural gas. The owners Shell, Lyse, and Equinor collaborated with UiS and NORCE (formerly IRIS) on the center, which was specifically designed to drive technology development in the areas of CO2 capture, CO2 handling and processing, hydrogen production, and emission reductions. Risavika Gas Centre was closed in 2011, and the property was acquired by Shell and later by SIVA. As part of the investment in industrial biotechnology, NORCE leased the property from 2016 until taking over the facility in 2022.