Six Danish firms – Copenhagen Airports, AP Moller-Maersk, DSV Panalpina, DFDS, SAS and Ørsted – are forming a partnership to develop an industrial-scale hydrogen and e-fuel production facility for road, maritime and air transport in the Copenhagen area
Consultancy firms COWI and BCG will act as knowledge partners for the project which is supported by the Municipality of Copenhagen in line with Copenhagen’s policies for decarbonisation. The partners said they expect to deliver more than 250,000 tonnes of sustainable fuel for maritime vessels, buses, trucks and aeroplanes when the production is scaled up by 2030.
Production would potentially be based on a total electrolyser capacity of 1.3 GW, which would make it one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind. The partners estimate that production from the fully scaled facility can reduce annual carbon emissions by 850,000 tonnes.
The electrolyser facility will act as a potential cornerstone in decarbonising the partners’ businesses and contribute in reaching Denmark’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels by replacing fossil fuels in heavy transport with sustainable fuels.
The partners envision the project developing in three stages:
The first stage is developing a 10-MW electrolyser which can produce renewable hydrogen. Next production is scaled up to a 250-MW electrolyser facility which could be operational by 2027 when the first offshore wind power from Bornholm, Denmark could be delivered. Finally by 2030 when the offshore wind potential at Bornholm has been fully developed, the electrolyser capacity can be upgraded to 1.3 GW and capture more sustainable CO2, enough to supply more than 250,000 tonnes of sustainable fuels to the transport sector.
Maersk chief executive Søren Skou said “Decarbonising the transport sector is a significant and complex task that requires collaborative contributions from every company, organisation, and country. This project provides a first step in the massive transformation to produce and distribute sustainable energy.”
The partnership will work with regulatory authorities on the framework and policies needed to support the development of using sustainable fuels at scale in Denmark, and seek public co-funding to conduct a full feasibility study of the project.
If the feasibility study confirms the viability of the project vision, a final investment decision for the first stage of the project could likely be taken as soon as 2021 and the firms expect the facility to open as soon as 2023.
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