Grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Emission Trading System Innovation Fund. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
The objective of the E-Fuel Pilot project is to establish and operate a first-of-its-kind power to hydrocarbons (P2X) production plant at Herøya, Norway. The key innovations developed by Nordic Electrofuel (NELF) are the process configuration and the new reactor design for converting CO2 to CO, which represents a breakthrough in terms of flexibility, reliability, and simplicity. The P2X process is designed to be highly energy efficient, with carbon utilisation close to 100%. The process allows a wide range of feedstocks e.g. biogas and blast furnace gas, but for E-Fuel 1 it will be 99 % pure CO2 sourced from a local industrial plant.
The process will employ reversed water gas shift (rWGS) and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technologies to produce approximately 8,000 tonnes per year of synthetic hydrocarbons (syncrude). Compared to a conventional reference fossil crude oil production scenario, the project will give a relative greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction of over 99% without including the difference related to exploration, export, and refining. In addition, aviation fuel based on NELF’s hydrocarbon product will lead to a reduce greenhouse warming due to much less formation cirrus clouds that is twice the effect the CO2 emission reduction, hence the total GHG (greenhouse gas) reduction can be 300 %.
The plant will convert CO₂ directly into e-fuel at lower capital and operational costs (CAPEX and OPEX), and with higher efficiency, than current state-of-the-art projects. The E-Fuel 1 project will demonstrate both the technical and economic viability of this concept, paving the way for a future full-scale commercial plant. The refined syncrude products are intended to replace fossil-based fuels in aviation and other hard-to-abate sectors. These products are compatible with existing engines and infrastructure, requiring no modifications.
Project timeline and foreseen project results
The timeline for E-Fuel Pilot project is shown in the figure below.
The E-Fuel Pilot will contribute to the overall objective of the RE-Power EU goal of reducing fossil fuel consumption in industry and transport sectors. It will contribute to the decarbonisation of the aviation and maritime sectors, in line with the policy objectives of the REfuelEU Aviation and FuelEU Maritime initiatives, as well as other national goals.
The project will also have relevant socio-economic impact at regional level. The E-fuel Pilot project will contribute to creating 270 direct jobs and an estimate of 700 indirect jobs, including engineering activities. The next possible step is an “accelerator” plant with significantly increased production volume and further innovations.
