Gothenburg-based power innovator Liquid Wind is charging forward with its next-generation eFuel manufacturing facility, securing €3.6 million in help from the Swedish Vitality Company’s Industriklivet programme.
The backing will fund pre-engineering for what is about to be one among Europe’s largest eMethanol crops, based mostly in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
The funding varieties a part of the EU-backed Restoration and Resilience Facility (RRF), with Industriklivet designed to speed up Sweden’s inexperienced industrial transformation. The grant was awarded based mostly on the challenge’s alignment with nationwide emissions discount targets and its potential to allow vital fossil gas substitution in hard-to-abate sectors corresponding to maritime delivery, aviation, and the chemical business.
“We’re happy to obtain the Industriklivet help for our challenge in Örnsköldsvik. It represents a robust dedication from the Swedish authorities that not solely accelerates the transition to fossil-free eFuel manufacturing in Sweden but additionally sends a robust sign to worldwide traders and offtakers. It’s a transparent endorsement of our imaginative and prescient to scale native and resilient eFuel options in Europe,” says Claes Fredriksson, CEO and founding father of Liquid Wind.
Based in 2017, Liquid Wind is carving out a number one place within the European eFuel panorama. The corporate develops commercial-scale services that produce inexperienced methanol – artificial gas derived from renewable electrical energy and captured carbon dioxide.
Not like conventional fuels, eMethanol gives a carbon-neutral different, important for decarbonising sectors that may’t simply electrify.
The Örnsköldsvik challenge would be the second such facility for the startup however is predicted to double the manufacturing capability of its predecessor. As soon as operational, it goals to supply round 100,000 tons of eMethanol yearly by combining inexperienced hydrogen (generated by way of electrolysis utilizing renewable electrical energy) with roughly 150,000 tons of biogenic CO₂ captured from Övik Energi’s bio-powered mixed warmth and energy (CHP) plant.
In doing so, it may displace an estimated 200,000 tons of CO₂e emissions annually.
In an indication of round and collaborative power programs, the positioning will likely be built-in with Övik Energi, a regional utility and long-term accomplice to Liquid Wind. The combination permits for not solely environment friendly useful resource use but additionally establishes a resilient native provide chain for sustainable gas.
“I’m more than happy to announce our new collaboration with Övik Energi. Now we have already been working collectively for a couple of years, so we’re glad that this new partnership has now come collectively. We see a really robust need from prospects and gas customers to transition to sustainable fuels, one thing our facility in Örnsköldsvik will contribute considerably to. Our new eFuel challenge is already underway, and we’re wanting ahead to bringing it to actuality,” famous Fredriksson.
The Örnsköldsvik plant, is predicted to be a blueprint for scaling comparable services throughout Europe. Its deliberate capability marks a substantial step ahead within the sector, particularly because the inexperienced methanol market is forecast to blow up – from a projected €3–5 billion in 2025 to as a lot as €20 billion by 2030, in keeping with projections from the IEA, IHS, and the IMO. The chemical sector alone is predicted to comprise 32% of this demand.
Roland Nordin, CEO of Övik Energi, added: “We’re thrilled that Liquid Wind stays devoted to organising large-scale eFuel manufacturing in Örnsköldsvik. We’re higher positioned than ever to contribute to the inexperienced transition, because of our potential to function our mixed warmth and energy plant fully on renewable power. Along with Liquid Wind, we’re strengthening our sustainability initiatives in Örnsköldsvik and fostering the economic collaboration that occurs day by day on the Excessive Coast Innovation Park enterprise cluster.”
As Europe ramps up its local weather ambitions, Liquid Wind’s eFuel mannequin – pairing renewable hydrogen manufacturing with native carbon seize – gives a replicable path to greener fuels at scale.
The European Union has set formidable targets to section out fossil fuels in keeping with its European Inexperienced Deal, aiming for local weather neutrality by 2050 and at the very least a 55% discount in greenhouse gasoline emissions by 2030 below the Match for 55 bundle. These frameworks promote large-scale deployment of renewable power, clear hydrogen, and sustainable fuels throughout transport and business.
By way of initiatives such because the REPowerEU plan, the EU additionally seeks to speed up the transition away from imported fossil fuels, fostering home innovation in eFuel and carbon-recycling applied sciences – targets Liquid Wind may show very important in.
EU-Startups beforehand featured Liquid Wind in a 2024 article detailing its €44 million Sequence C funding spherical, which targeted on scaling industrial eMethanol manufacturing and increasing its community of commercial companions throughout Northern Europe.