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 set up and operate a first-in-kind plant for synthetic fuel production at Herøya, Norway. The key innovation is the Power-to-energy (P2X) e-fuel production process provided by Nordic Electrofuel AS (NELF), a breakthrough in flexibility, reliability, and simplicity. The P2X process will also be very energy efficient with carbon utilisation at close to 100%. The carbon source is the blast furnace waste gas from a local Ferro/Silicon-Manganese plant. The carbon capture and use (CCU) based process will use reversed water gas shift and Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce 8 000 tonnes/year of synthetic hydrocarbons (syncrude). A relative greenhouse gas (GHG) emission avoidance above 99% is expected, compared with the reference scenario.
The plant will convert blast furnace gas directly to e-fuel, at lower cost (CAPEX and OPEX) and higher efficiencies compared with current state-of-the-art projects. As well as sourcing carbon from blast furnace waste gases, the project process is also suitable for other CO/CO2 sources, such as metal and cement production or waste incineration. A patented solution to achieve increased cost efficiency (named POX-rWGS), will also be tested, which includes a new gas-gas syngas cooler that allows higher recovery of heat. The E-Fuel Pilot project will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of the concept, paving the way for a future full-scale plant.
The refined syncrude products will be used to replace fossil-based products in the aviation and other hard-to-abate sectors. The products can be used in existing engines and infrastructure without any modifications. Additionally, other benefits will be derived during use. For example, kerosene from syncrude has a clean combustion which significantly reduces particulate emissions, contributing to reducing cirrus clouds which are severe for global warming. The project plans to avoid 228 163 tonnes of CO2 equivalent of absolute emissions in the first 10 years of operation.
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.
