Ørsted and Liquid Wind AB have reached an agreement under which Ørsted will acquire a 45% ownership share of Liquid Wind AB’s FlagshipONE e-methanol project. (Earlier post.)

FlagshipONE is a late-stage development project and could become the world’s first large-scale sustainable e-methanol project. Liquid Wind AB plans to establish a series of facilities across Sweden to decarbonize the maritime sector, of which FlagshipONE will be the first.

Ørsted’s entry into the FlagshipONE project is a marker of the company’s strategic ambition of building a global leadership position within green fuels and renewable hydrogen. FlagshipONE adds to Ørsted’s growing hydrogen and Power-to-X project pipeline, which includes several projects aimed at decarbonizing maritime transport.

FlagshipONE will have an electrolyzer capacity of around 70 MW and is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year based on renewable hydrogen and biogenic CO₂. The electrolysis producing the hydrogen will be powered by onshore wind, and the biogenic CO₂ will be captured from the combined heat and power plant Hörneborgsverket in Örnsköldsvik in Sweden, where FlagshipONE will also be located.

Ørsted and Liquid Wind AB expect to commission FlagshipONE in 2024, subject to final investment decision, which could happen as soon as 2022.

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.

—Martin Neubert, CCO and Deputy Group CEO of Ørsted

According to the International Energy Agency, emissions from international shipping have risen by 40% from 2000 to 2019 and account for around 2% of total global energy related greenhouse gas emissions today. The sector urgently needs new types of fuel to reduce its climate impact, and Ørsted is involved in several projects that aim at delivering sustainable fuels for maritime transport, including the Green Fuels for Denmark project in Copenhagen.