Sweden: FlagshipONE applies environmental permit for e-methanol bunker fuel production plant

FlagshipOne AB on Thursday (30 September) said it is applying for an environmental permit at the Land and Environmental Court in Umeå, Sweden in accordance with the Environmental Code for facilities for the production of electro-methanol or e-methanol.

The firm plans to build Sweden’s first production plant of electro-methanol, in connection with Övik Energi’s combined heat and power plant Hörneborgsverket in Örnsköldsvik, where renewable electricity from new wind power will be converted into sustainable bunker fuel.

For this, green hydrogen gas is produced which is combined with recycled biogenic carbon dioxide from the CHP plant, which means that the electro methanol is fossil-free. The location with proximity to storage and port is of great practical and strategic value, it said.

Several international partners are contributing to the design of the plant, including Siemens Energy , Alfa Laval Carbon Clean , Haldor Topsoe , Worley and Uniper .

The schedule of construction will start in the spring of 2022.

“We hope for an efficient and smooth permit process to be able to keep to the schedule for starting delivery of electro-methanol to the shipping companies with which we have a dialogue,” says Thomas Nilsson, project manager for FlagshipONE. 

“The transition to renewable energy is urgent. World shipping currently uses 350 million tonnes of fossil fuel per year. With e-methanol as a replacement for today’s fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by over 90%,” says Claes Fredriksson, CEO of Liquid Wind.

Photo credit: FlagshipOne
Published: 4 October, 2021