Danish renewable energy group Orsted plans to buy a 45% stake in Swedish firm Liquid Wind’s FlagshipONE eMethanol project to decarbonise the maritime sector.
FlagshipONE is Liquid Wind's first development project with the company, saying it plans to establish a series of facilities across Sweden to supply the shipping sector with green methanol.
The venture, which the firm claims could become the world’s first large-scale sustainable e-methanol project will have an electrolyser capacity of around 70 MW.
It is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of the synthetic methanol per year based on renewable hydrogen and biogenic CO2.
The electrolysis producing the hydrogen will be powered by onshore wind, and the biogenic CO2 will be captured from a combined heat and power plant in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden.
Orsted and Liquid Wind expect to commission FlagshipONE in 2024, subject to a final investment decision that could happen this year, they said.
"FlagshipONE adds to Orsted’s growing hydrogen and Power-to-X project pipeline, which includes several projects aimed at decarbonising maritime transport," the companies said.
They include the Green Fuels for Denmark project in Copenhagen.
Martin Neubert, chief commercial officer and deputy group chief executive of Orsted, said the company is "ready to be a driving force in maturing the green fuels industry, where we can play a significant role in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors like maritime transport".
Liquid Wind founder and chief executive Claes Fredriksson said its e-methanol "will become a dominant fuel for true decarbonisation" of shipping, reducing CO2 emissions by more than 90%.
He added that the company aims to significantly scale up the number of its facilities around the world by 2050.
