Mercer International Inc. Launches CO₂ Capture Demonstration Unit at Peace River Pulp Mill
On December 18, 2025, Mercer International Inc. (Nasdaq: MERC), a prominent global forest products company, announced the commencement of operations for a carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture demonstration unit at its Mercer Peace River Pulp Ltd. (MPR) in northern Alberta. This collaborative pilot project with Svante Technologies Inc. aims to evaluate innovative carbon capture technology designed to reduce biogenic CO₂ emissions from the mill’s recovery boiler flue gas.
Details of the CO₂ Capture Project
The new demonstration unit follows the completion of the Front-End Engineering and Design Phase 2 (FEL-2 / pre-FEED), which assessed critical factors such as design, site integration, cost, and risk for future commercial-scale deployment. This strategic initiative is expected to last for six months, generating valuable technical and operational data to inform potential future developments.
Statements from Company Officials
Bill Adams, Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Canadian Pulp Operations, commented, “Commissioning this demonstration unit is an important and cost-efficient step for our Peace River team. It allows us to evaluate carbon capture performance in our operating environment and gather practical data on what would be required for any future scale-up.” He further emphasized that results from the demonstration will be vital for assessing the decarbonization potential of this technology for biogenic emissions across all pulp operations.
Scott Gardner, President of Svante Development Company, shared his enthusiasm: “We are pleased to see this project advance into on-site demonstration operations. Testing our technology in an operating pulp mill environment is an important step in gathering the information needed to assess future opportunities for commercial-scale carbon capture within the wider pulp and paper industry.”
Future Considerations
The advancement of the project beyond the demonstration phase will depend on several factors, including the demonstration results and further economic, technical, and commercial analyses.
About Mercer International Inc.
Mercer International Inc. is recognized as a global leader in the forest products sector, operating across Germany, the USA, and Canada. The company boasts a consolidated annual production capacity of:
- 2.1 million tonnes of pulp (air-dried tonnes, ADTMs)
- 960 million board feet of lumber
- 210 thousand cubic meters of CLT
- 45 thousand cubic meters of glulam
- 17 million pallets
- 230,000 metric tonnes of biofuels
For further information on Mercer International, please visit their website at mercerint.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The content includes forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from forecasted results. Terms like "expects," "anticipates," "projects," and variations thereof indicate such forward-looking statements. Notable factors that could affect actual results include the cyclic nature of the industry, raw material costs, competition, and regulatory compliance among others.