Feb 7, 2022
Engie and Infinium Plan Renewable Aviation, Maritime Fuel Venture
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- French utility Engie SA and U.S. engineering company Infinium Holdings are considering a project of more than 500 million euros ($572 million) to produce renewable aviation and maritime fuels in northern France as pressure on the transport industry to cut carbon emission mounts.
The venture, called Reuze, would use Infinium’s technology to produce so-called e-fuels by combining carbon dioxide from ArcelorMittal SA’s steel plant in Dunkirk with green hydrogen produced by a 400-megawatt electrolyzer to be installed by Engie, the companies said in a statement Monday.
Companies including energy producers, steel and chemical makers are increasingly considering reusing CO2 to produce sustainable synthetic fuels. The European Union and individual members states have pledged billions of euros of subsidies for tied to cleanly produced hydrogen as they target net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.
The project will apply for French and European Union subsidies, said Sebastien Arbola, Engie’s head of thermal generation, hydrogen and energy supply. It will produce about 2,500 barrels of synthetic fuel per day, which will be used by airlines to meet European regulations that calls for higher blending of renewable fuels in jet fuel, said Gaetan Deckers, head of the Reuze project.
Also read: Airline Lobby Assails EU Plan Dictating Sustainable Fuel Use
Last week, ArcelorMittal announced the French government’s support for a 1.7 billion-euro program to trim the company’s carbon emissions in the country by 40% by 2030. The plan includes building electric furnaces and using hydrogen instead of coal to transform iron ore at its Dunkirk plant.
The final investment decision for the Reuze project, which has the financial support of a French government agency and backing of the Dunkirk administration, its port and the Hauts-de-France region, is planned by the end of 2023. Commercial start up is expected in 2026.
(Corrects target date for start of commercial operations in last paragraph.)
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