Swedish power-to-liquid (PtL) start-up Liquid Wind has announced that InnoEnergy, a European impact fund investing in solutions in the area of energy and cleantech will provide support and invest EUR 1.7 million to enable Liquid Wind to develop the world’s first commercial-scale electro-fuels (e-fuels) facility in Sweden. The plant will produce e-methanol destined for shipping and heavy transport sectors.
Founded in 2017, electro-fuels (e-fuels) developer Liquid Wind plans to address the growing need for renewable fuels and support decarbonisation of currently ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors with renewable liquid fuel. Using carbon capture and renewable electricity, the company aims to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) into renewable liquid electro-methanol (e-methanol), providing a viable and cost-effective alternative to fossil-derived fuels particularly for shipping and heavy transport.
International shipping contributes more than 1 billion tonnes to global greenhouse (GHG) emissions and the International Marine Organization (IMO) has committed to reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2050. The Cruise Line industry has even stronger ambitions, with a 40 percent reduction by 2030. Renewable methanol is seen as one viable biofuel alternative fuel for shipping to achieve its ambitions.
InnoEnergy investment and support of FlagshipONE
Liquid Wind aims to develop and manage facilities to produce e-methanol in large volumes, which will enable industries such as shipping, to significantly reduce their carbon emissions and improve their value proposition. As a liquid, e-methanol is easy to use, store and transport with limited modifications to existing infrastructure.
InnoEnergy, a European impact fund investing in solutions in the area of energy and cleantech will provide support and invest EUR 1.7 million to enable Liquid Wind to develop the world’s first commercial-scale e-methanol facility in Sweden, known as the FlagshipONE facility.
The FlagshipONE project is being developed by Liquid Wind together with a consortium consisting of Haldor Topsoe, Carbon Clean Solutions, NEL, Axpo, and COWI with negotiations with other undisclosed partners expected to be finalised in the near future.
We are very excited to accelerate the planning and development of our first e-methanol facility with our Consortium partners early in 2020. This is a significant next step in bringing e-methanol to market at scale to meet growing demand. The strong backing from InnoEnergy is really valuable in enabling us to rapidly move towards the investment decision for our first facility, said Claes Fredriksson, CEO, and Founder Liquid Wind.
Supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, InnoEnergy invests in solutions in the area of energy, cleantech, mobility and broadly understood smart technologies. Through knowledge, financing, and network of contacts, the company supports the commercialization of products and their introduction to international markets.
Additional plants planned for Scandinavia
Liquid Wind will now commence with engineering for FlagshipONE, its first e-methanol facility in Sweden, integrating proven technology from the consortium. E-methanol from the facility could be commercially available from 2023, assuming the investment decision is made and everything else goes to plan.
Six initial facilities are planned for Scandinavia, Liquid Wind will then replicate the operation internationally to meet demand and significantly reduce carbon emissions. Each e-methanol facility will capture and recycle 70 000 tonnes of CO2 to produce 54 000 tonnes of e-methanol fuel, enabling a significant CO2 reduction.
