The Project
– scalable and cost effective
The project will conduct pilot-scale and demo-scale experiments in existing facilities at Technip Energies in the US to save time and cost related to building small test facilities in Denmark. The results from Technip Energies will be used to design a complete pre-commercial scale unit with all the required process integration. This unit will be built in Denmark by European Energy and integrated with the existing Power2Met pilot plant in Aalborg. A test and demonstration program will be conducted and bring the technology to the stage where it is ready for scaling and integration with a commercial Power2Met plant owned and operated by European Energy.
MeSAF Value Chain
The consortium of MeSAF ensembles suppliers, experts and end-users from across and closing the value chain from production to offtake: renewable ressources and e-Methanol provider, European Energy; catalyst-technology provider Vertimass, and end-users Kosangas and Aalborg Airport. The partnership group includes also Port of Aalborg where the plant will be located, for expert advising department of Energy from Aalborg University and Hydrogen Valley for dissemination and communication.
The overall objective of the MeSAF project is to fast-track the development and demonstration of a very promising technology that converts raw e-methanol (undistilled) to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) using a groundbreaking catalyst from Vertimass (US-based company).
The project will leverage the success of the EUDP-funded Power2Met project that brought Danish e-methanol into an international lead position. The PowertoMet plant was initiated in February 2019 fully operational in 2021.
MeSAF plant anchored at Port of Aalborg
Aalborg is characterized by having Denmark’s absolute largest CO2 emitter located largely in the center of the city. With emissions of approximately 2.3 million tonnes of CO2 on an annual basis. Aalborg has good prerequisites for both CO2 use and CO2 storage. This can be justified by the potential the area has for integrating the energy system across the electricity, heating, gas and transport sectors, so that all resources are utilized to the full. The combination of a transport infrastructure for CO2 and a transport infrastructure for hydrogen will enable the use of CO2 for electrofuels such as eMethanol and MeSAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel).
Port of Aalborg wants to form partnerships in which we actively draw on each others expertise and together ensure that the green transition become a growth parameter for business in Aalborg and North Jutland. The development potential is in place and new technologies are ripe to be scaled up and demonstrated at the test facility at Port of Aalborg.
With both DAT, SAS and Norwegian there are approximately 18 daily departures between Aalborg and Copenhagen. This makes Aalborg-Copenhagen the busiest domestic route In Denmark. It therefore makes sense that the first Danish sustainable domestic route will be from Aalborg Airport. We are looking forward to the collaboration and not least the development of more sustainable aviation.
The cooperation on the production of MeSAF is the result of a strategic focus on sustainable transition in our organization, where the partnership with our technical partner, Vertimass, has been the key to combine the appropriate technologies, which the project in Aalborg requires. Being able to produce this renewable liquid gas means that we, among other things, will be able to help companies that wish to increase their security of supply with a sustainable energy solution. As the production of sustainable aviation fuel increases, we expect to be able to supply correspondingly larger amounts of renewable liquefied gas to our customers.
From feasibility study to full-scale demonstration
MeSAF is envisioned as a 3-phase ambition.
Preliminary feasibility study and bench-scale testing
Vertimass, Aalborg University and European Energy have already validated the conversion of raw methanol using the Vertimass catalyst in bench-scale experiments. This work has provided the basic proof-of-concept that forms the basis for the MeSAF project.
Development and demonstration of MeSAF Unit at Power2Met pilot plant
Bring the single step rawmethanol to MeSAF conversion process based on the Vertimass catalyst from pilot-scale to pre-commercial scale.
Full-scale demonstration plant with a production capacity of 10.000t MeSAF annually
The second phase of the MeSAF project will be to demonstrate the conversion at commercial scale and supply MeSAF to Aalborg Airport.
