Sustainability, resource conservation and the efficient use of raw materials are among the most important topics of today. On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, H&R inaugurated the new Power-to-Liquid (PtL) demonstration plant at the production site of Ölwerke Schindler GmbH. The process facility will be used to produce synthesis-based alternatives to fossil raw materials. The demonstration project is one of the world’s first PtL concepts on a technical scale, supplying so-called eFuels as well as synthetic raw waxes, which will be marketed via the P2X-Europe joint venture of the two partner companies Mabanaft and H&R.
The Power-to-Liquid synthesis technology, developed by Karlsruhe-based technology company INERATEC, will in future produce around 200 tons of eFuels for road as well as rail transport and around 150 tons of eWaxes for use in the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food industries. “For more than 10 years, we have been working on exploiting the potential of green hydrogen and climate-friendly base materials produced from it, and we are proud to set a milestone in the production and marketing of chemical-pharmaceutical specialties and eFuels from renewable resources together with Mabanaft. Our future offer of various non-fossil products is our contribution to a climate-neutral future and lets us actively shape the energy transition,” says Detlev Woesten, Chief Sustainability Officer of H&R and Co-CEO of P2X-Europe.
In contrast to the fossil origin of these raw materials, the PtL process enables the production of synthesis-based hydrocarbons made from sustainable and climate-friendly components. For this purpose, green hydrogen from the electrolysis hydrogen plant commissioned in 2017 is first processed together with biogenic CO2 to produce synthesis gas, from which synthetic hydrocarbons are subsequently produced. The plant is integrated into the network of Norddeutsches Reallabor (NRL), in which 50 partners from different production and consumption sectors are jointly testing new ways to achieve climate neutrality as part of an energy transition alliance.
With the official inauguration of the plant, the NextGate project partners are completing an important part of the commissioning phase, in which all essential systems have already been ramped-up and the first batches of synthetic hydrocarbons have been produced. In the coming weeks, operations will be optimised in terms of continuous production. “In the near future, we will produce eFuels and synthetic raw materials and refine them to specification-compliant end products and base materials for chemical-pharmaceutical products,” says Dr. Thorsten Frick, Director Transformation at H&R. The company’s declared goal is to transform the basic chemical industry and to support its own customers in their climate protection goals.
In the coming years, building on the volumes from the NextGate demonstration project, H&R and Mabanaft will enable the market ramp-up by increasing production volumes to a commercial scale through projects of the joint venture company P2X-Europe.
“We need to reduce our dependence on fossil raw materials. At the same time, for many aspects of our everyday social and economic lives, we also need climate-friendly alternatives to fossil liquid fuels, which can be used directly and easily as substitutes. With the help of the PtL technology, we can offer synthetic fuels in the form of CO2-neutral eFuels to air, marine and rail transport and thus make a significant contribution to the defossilisation of these sectors,” explains Volker Ebeling, Senior Vice President New Energy, Chemicals & Gas at Mabanaft.
Dr. Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: “The Power-to-Liquid demonstration plant by H&R and Mabanaft is an important project for climate protection and the energy transition in Germany. Synthetic fuels and base materials will become increasingly important for industry, logistics and mobility in the coming years. The new plant demonstrates the technological expertise and innovative strength of the industry in Hamburg.”
The mobile multimedia and information centre run by en2x - Wirtschaftsverband Fuels & Energie (German Fuels & Energy Association) - is located next to the new process plant. From now on, the transformation of the industry will be demonstrated in an illustrative and concrete way to the professional public as well as stakeholders and other interested parties. In the “futurefuels.experience”, groups of visitors have the opportunity to learn about important aspects of hydrogen and alternative fuels or raw materials directly on site.
P2X-Europe GmbH & Co. KG is an independent Power-to-Liquid (PtL) project development joint-venture, backed by two Hamburg-based German companies; the Mabanaft Group, a leading independent and integrated energy company, and the H&R Group, which develops and manufactures specialty chemical and pharmaceutical products. P2X-Europe develops, builds, and invests in vertically integrated end-to-end Power-to-Liquid technology solutions to enable the market introduction of synthetic net-zero chemicals and fuels. Based in Hamburg, the company has set the ambition to become a global leader in renewable hydrogen and green synthetic hydrocarbons with a focus on sustainable aviation fuels, and the company is building a strong and diverse portfolio of large-scale Power-to-X projects across industries and geographies.
Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG is a leading independent and integrated energy company, providing its customers with innovative energy solutions for their transportation, heating, and industrial needs. In addition, the company is active in trading petroleum products, natural gas liquids, chemicals, and biofuels.
H&R GmbH & Co. KGaA is a specialty-chemicals company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's Prime Standard segment. It develops and manufactures crude-oil-based chemical and pharmaceutical specialty products and produces high-precision plastic parts. The product portfolio comprises white oils, petroleum jellies, paraffin waxes, lubricants, base oils, process oils, cable filling compounds, ozone protection waxes, plasticizers, cosmetic and pharmaceutical raw materials.