Green hydrogen-based e-fuel project developer Liquid Wind has raised €44m ($46m) in a Series C financing round led by Uniper, HYCAP and Samsung Ventures.
The Swedish firm says the capital will support the development of 10 e-fuel facilities by 2027 as it aims to meet the shipping industry’s growing demand for e-methanol.
Its plan is to develop scalable, standardised facilities to convert biogenic CO2 with green hydrogen into e-methanol, which it says generates 94% lower emissions compared to fossil fuels on a well-to-wake basis.
Liquid Wind founder and CEO, Claes Fredriksson, said the demand for low-carbon maritime fuels is “undeniable.”
“Our shareholders recognise this, and we are pleased to welcome Samsung Ventures as a new investor, alongside continued support from Uniper and HYCAP,” Fredriksson stressed. “The investment, the largest in our company history, reflects their confidence in Liquid Wind’s potential to scale e-fuel production in the years to come.”
Despite moving forward with the development of its first two projects, its inaugural 55,000-tonne plant in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, which had been bought out by Ørsted when it reached final investment decision (FID) was shelved earlier this year.
Citing low offtake demand, high prices and insufficient incentives, Ørsted told H2 View the FID had been taken on the basis of a “challenged business case.”
Read more:High prices, no offtake, insufficient incentives: why Ørsted scrapped FlagshipONE
Nonetheless, Liquid Wind has been working with Uniper on its second, larger e-methanol plant in Östersund – NorthStarH2.
Set to produce 100,000 tonnes per year, Uniper appointed the Swedish firm as project developer after the pair signed a strategic partnership agreement to reduce the costs and risks of e-fuel plants.
Read more:Uniper names Liquid Wind project Developer for 100,000-tonne e-methanol plant
“Our ongoing partnership with Liquid Wind has proven to be very fruitful, and we look forward to achieving further milestones together and actively shaping the future of the energy industry,” said Jan Taschenberger, COO New Green Power and Gas at Uniper.
HYCAP CEO, James Munce, added that Liquid Wind’s standardised approach was “exactly what the maritime sector needs to meet its decarbonisation targets.”
© Liquid Wind
We want to keep hydrogen e-fuels project FlagshipONE alive, says original developer
The developer and original owner of FlagshipONE is exploring options to keep the hydrogen-based e-fuels project alive after Ørsted stopped construction last week, H2 View has been exclusively told.
Claes Fredriksson, CEO and founder of Liquid Wind, told H2 View, “I don’t see the project as dead in any way,” adding, “I’m hoping that construction of FlagshipONE will continue as planned, with a new owner.”
Previously co-owned by Liquid Wind and Ørsted until the project’s final investment decision (FID) in 2022, Fredriksson described the move to cancel its construction as “disappointing…
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