CARBON RECYCLING INTERNATIONAL PLAYS KEY ROLE IN SUCCESS OF POWER-TO-FUEL TECHNOLOGY
German newspaper Zeitung fur kommunale Wirtschaft reports on the key role of Carbon Recycling International (CRI) in the recently announced collaboration with industrial and academic partners to implement Emission-to-Liquids technology at the Lünen power-plant, operated by German utility and power technology company Steag.
ZfK January 7 2015
STEAG LAUNCHES POWER-TO-LIQUID PROJECT
The development of energy storage technology is a cornerstone for the success of the German Energiewende (Energy Transition). Steag is now breaking a new path: In collaboration with global partners, their development team will deploy power-to-liquid technology at the Lünen power plant. Carbon dioxide emissions from the coal-fired power plant will be converted into fuel. The project is funded with a € 11 million grant from the EU Horizon 2020 research program.
Project partners are Carbon Recycling International (CRI), Mitsubishi, Hitachi Power Systems Europe, Hydrogenics and I-DEALS and several universities and research institutions in Europe. CRI controls an important component of the project as CRI already produces methanol from renewable energy at its manufacturing facility in Grindavik, Iceland. The technology is thus based on converting CO₂ to methanol with the help of electricity. Methanol is widely used in gasoline blends and is used for biodiesel production and preparation of chemical derivatives.
R&D director Dr. Wolfgang Benesch outlines the importance of the project: "This project is a further step in the development of marketable storage technologies at Steag." As early as in 2014 another Steag storage project made its market entry: One of Germany's first lithium-ion battery energy storage facilities, marketed under the brand name Lessy, received approval for use as a grid stabilization device by the transmission system operator. Steag offers Lessy on the market for primary control power to stabilize the grid. The large-scale battery storage is configured to store or deliver 1 MW of power within the span of a few seconds.