The Green Fuels for Denmark Power-to-X project being developed by Ørsted and partners has received an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) status from the European Commission.
The Danish government shortlisted Green Fuels for Denmark as one of two Danish Power-to-X projects eligible for public funding, provided that the European Commission recognises it as IPCEI, contributing to sustainable economic growth, job creation, and the competitiveness of the EU economy.
Green Fuels for Denmark aims to produce large quantities of sustainable green fuels for road, maritime, and air transport in the Copenhagen area.
The project is being developed by Ørsted in partnership with leading off-takers in heavy road transport (DSV), shipping (Maersk and DFDS), and aviation (Copenhagen Airports, SAS).
The Danish government has earmarked a total of DKK 850 million (EUR 114 million) of funding for the two shortlisted projects.
The funding will help enable the consortium behind Green Fuels for Denmark to develop the first phases of the project as part of the industrialisation of renewable hydrogen and green fuels needed to compete with fossil-based alternatives.
Green Fuels for Denmark is one of the 41 projects to which the European Commission granted the IPCEI status. The EU Member States will provide up to EUR 5.4 billion in public funding, which is expected to unlock additional EUR 8.8 billion in private investments through the prgramme.
”IPCEI is a key enabler for creating a green and energy independent Europe, as it will unlock substantial amounts of funding to mature the Power-to-X industry, a central alternative to imported fossil fuels. This and other IPCEI projects in our portfolio represent the second stage of our Power-to-X journey in which we start introducing large-scale facilities across four important sectors: refining, heavy industry, chemicals production and heavy transport,” Olivia Breese , Senior Vice President and Head of P2X of Ørsted, said.
”The scale-up of Power-to-X is dependent on the availability of large-scale renewable electricity, and we urge governments across Europe to dramatically accelerate the deployment of offshore and onshore wind and solar PV in order to deliver on Europe’s ambition to lead in Power-to-X.”
When fully developed, Green Fuels for Denmark aims to reach a total electrolysis capacity of 1,300 MW. The project will be constructed in phases.
The 10 MW Phase 1 will annually supply 1,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen for heavy road transport.
The 100 MW Phase 2a will annually produce more than 50,000 tonnes of mainly e-methanol for shipping and enough e-kerosene to potentially fuel Denmark’s first green domestic air connection, the developers said.
Phase 2b plans to reach 300-350 MW of cumulative capacity. When in full operation, phase 2b will produce more than 100,000 tonnes in total of e-methanol and e-kerosene, equivalent to more than the total consumption of fuels for domestic aviation in Denmark.
Phase 3 – the full 1,300 MW capacity – will be able to produce 275,000 tonnes of renewable fuels per year.
Subject to final investment decisions, Phase 1 could enter commercial operations in 2023, Phase 2a in 2025, and Phase 2b in 2027.
The EU Commission is expected to finalise its IPCEI notification process by the end of 2022.