Ørsted joins with Liquid Wind and invests in a large-scale e-methanol project in Sweden

Ørsted and Liquid Wind AB have agreed to a 45 percent stake in Liquid Wind AB’s FlagshipONE e-methanol project.

FlagshipONE is a late-stage development project that has the potential to become the world’s first large-scale sustainable e-methanol production facility. Liquid Wind AB intends to develop a succession of facilities throughout Sweden in order to decarbonize the maritime sector, the first of which will be FlagshipONE.

Ørsted’s participation in the FlagshipONE initiative demonstrates the company’s strategic goal of achieving worldwide leadership in green fuels and renewable hydrogen. FlagshipONE complements Ørsted’s expanding hydrogen and Power-to-X project pipeline, which includes many initiatives geared at decarbonizing maritime transport.

FlagshipONE will have a capacity of approximately 70 MW and will be capable of producing 50,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year using renewable hydrogen and biogenic CO2. Onshore wind will power the electrolysis that generates the hydrogen, and biogenic CO2 will be captured at the combined heat and power plant Hörneborgsverket near rnsköldsvik, Sweden, where FlagshipONE will also be located.

Ørsted and Liquid Wind AB intend to commission FlagshipONE in 2024, pending a definitive investment decision in as little as 2022.

Martin Neubert, CCO and Deputy Group CEO of Ørsted, says:

“Ørsted has set the clear strategic ambition of building a global leadership position within renewable hydrogen and green fuels, and our investment in FlagshipONE is a clear proof of our commitment to this ambition. Like we did with offshore wind, we are at Ørsted 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.”

Claes Fredriksson, CEO and Founder of Liquid Wind, says:

”We are extremely pleased with the opportunity of engaging in a partnership with Ørsted, a global sustainability leader recognising e-methanol as a replacement for today’s marine fossil fuels. The interest from Ørsted shows how far Liquid Wind has come and is further evidence for the importance of electro-fuel. Our green fuel will become a dominant fuel for true decarbonisation in the hard to abate shipping sectors, reducing CO2 emissions with more than 90 %. FlagshipONE is the first facility, and it’s Liquid Wind’s ambition to significantly scale up the number of facilities across the world by 2050.”

Anders Nordstrøm, Head of Ørsted’s hydrogen and Power-to-X activities, says:

“By partnering with Liquid Wind on FlagshipONE, we’re entering one of the most promising and exciting projects to supply e-methanol at scale and drive the decarbonisation of maritime transport and other uses of e-methanol. With the right framework and societal support, FlagshipONE can become one of the world’s first large-scale e-methanol facilities and an important addition to Ørsted’s growing and diverse portfolio of hydrogen and Power-to-X projects.”

According to the Worldwide Energy Agency, international shipping emissions increased by 40% between 2000 and 2019 and now account for roughly 2% of total global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The sector urgently need new forms of fuel to mitigate its climate impact, and Ørsted is involved in numerous projects aimed at developing sustainable marine fuels, including the Copenhagen-based Green Fuels for Denmark project.