The SkyClean Scale-up project has been awarded Innovation Project of the Year 2026 by Energy Cluster Denmark in recognition of its contribution to advancing industrial-scale pyrolysis for carbon removal and renewable energy.

The award was presented at Energy Cluster Denmark’s Annual Meeting in Aalborg on 13 May following a live vote among more than 300 participants. Peter Lindholst, Strategic Business Developer at Stiesdal, accepted the award on behalf of the SkyClean Scale-up partnership.

Advancing pyrolysis at commercial scale
SkyClean Scale-up demonstrated that slow pyrolysis can be deployed at commercial scale. The project resulted in the world’s largest pyrolysis plant: a 20 MW facility in Vrå, Denmark, which converts biogas residue fibres into stable biochar for permanent carbon storage while producing renewable energy.

Beyond demonstrating industrial-scale technology, the project generated valuable knowledge on biochar quality, carbon storage, process performance, and practical deployment. These results help accelerate the adoption of pyrolysis as a scalable solution for durable carbon removal and renewable energy production.

Recognition for a shared effort
The award recognises not only the technology itself, but also the collaboration behind it. The SkyClean Scale-up project brought together industrial partners and leading Danish research institutions to validate pyrolysis technology, document carbon storage, investigate biochar quality, and develop future value chains for biochar.

The project was funded through the Danish Energy Agency’s Pyrolysis Fund under the EU’s NextGenerationEU initiative and included partners from industry, academia, and the agricultural sector.