16 December 2021

Danish Government tables PtX proposal

Denmark’s Government presented a DKK 1.25 billion Power-to-X (PtX) proposal to support the development of PtX technology. Two main measures out of the 14 measures are highlighted and commented on by industry actors.

• Raising PtX funding from DKK 750 million to DKK 1.25 billion.
• Building 4-6 GW of PtX capacity by 2030, in order to replace coal and oil.

The proposal was well-received by Wind Denmark as it includes many intentions to make PtX a strategic investment in Denmark according to Jan Hylleberg, CEO of Wind Denmark, alluding to the target of increasing electrolyser capacity to 4-6 GW by 2030. In line with this opinion, Lars Aagard, CEO of Dansk Energi, praises the proposal and claims that the Danish government has shown its level of ambition with the proposal. However, Aagard encouraged parties of the parliament to accelerate the negotiations for a finalised PtX strategy (Press release, press release, press release).

Norwegian oil- and energy department receives 5 applications from CCS parties

The Norwegian oil- and energy department has received applications from five companies following the announcement of two offshore areas for the injection and storage of CO2 on the Norwegian continental shelf. The two areas in the North Sea and the Barents Sea were applied to by Norske Shell, Equinor, Horisont Energi, Northern Lights JV, and Vår Energi. The Ministry will process the applications during the first half of 2022, and allocate the offshore acreage in accordance with carbon storage regulations (Energi24).

E.ON to build Swedish solar parks on own balance sheet 

E.ON, which has earlier built solar parks for its customers, is now interested in building its own portfolio for solar parks. Depending on the energy off-taker, E.ON is able to meet the requirements of its customer with different concepts and business models for the solar parks. The company’s initial goal is to secure a portfolio of 200 MW solar power, where it has already secured circa 100 MW (Press release).

Green Iron raises SEK 100 million for full-scale circular fossil-free steel facility

Following the successes of Hybrit and H2 Green Steel, Green Iron has raised SEK 100 million from several heavy investors, including Wallenberg-owned FAM and Almi Invest for the production of fossil-free steel and iron - with a twist – by creating circular flows of residual products and waste from steelworks. With the new financing raised, the start-up is targeting a full-scale production facility to deliver fossil-free steel by 3Q23, according to Edward Murray, CEO of Green Iron. Green Iron is now looking for a suitable location and is not restricted to Sweden as it will be built with the priority of starting production by 3Q23 (MSN).

Rise and Equinix collaborate: Fuel-cell driven data centres

Rise will field test fuel cells and batteries as a replacement for fossil-heavy electricity and diesel generators with data centre owner Equinix. To this end, a 96-kW facility driven by Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) from German-Italian Solidpower will be built in 2023 and test-run for approximately a year. The project, E2P2, explores the opportunities for a new architecture for generating, distributing, and storing energy, thus enabling the transition from natural gas to hydrogen, according to Justin Dustzadeh, CTO at Equinix. However, during the majority of the project, the data centre will run on natural gas instead of hydrogen in order to utilise existing infrastructure. E2P2 is financed by the EU with a budget of circa SEK 25 million and set to be built in a European country with a more CO2-intensive energy mix than Sweden (MSN).

Aker babies participate in Net Zero Teesside Power’s CCUS projects

The first contracts for a design and development competition have been awarded to two contractor groups, for Net Zero Teesside Power’s CCUS project. BP, the operator of Net Zero Teesside Power, awarded contracts for the gas-fired power station and the Northern Endurance Partnership’s facilities which will capture, compress, and export CO2 for offshore storage. The first contractor group was the Technip Energies and General Electric consortium - led by Technip Energies and including Shell and Balfour Beatty. The second group was the Aker Solutions, Doosan Babcock and Siemens Energy consortium, led by Aker Solutions and including Aker Carbon Capture (The Northern Echo).

What we’re reading

• Woodside Petroleum plans to invest USD 5 billion in clean energy by 2030 (Seneca ESG)

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