Sunfire to boost Swedish Project Air

Swedish Project Air is moving full steam ahead with Düsseldorf-based energy company Uniper commissioning the Dresden-based company Sunfire to build a 30 MW pressurized alkaline electrolysis plant which will generate green hydrogen using renewable electricity and purified wastewater.

The final investment decision is still pending.

Project Air, a collaboration between Perstorp Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad, and Uniper, is an industrial initiative to transform the chemical industry towards climate neutrality.

Uniper said that Project Air will produce sustainable methanol for chemical manufacturing using circular production methods. Perstorp will build a carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) plant in Stenungsund, Sweden, that is expected to convert carbon dioxide emissions captured from its operations as well as other residue streams, biogas and renewable hydrogen to methanol, and the renewable hydrogen will be supplied by a pressurized alkaline electrolyzer developed and manufactured by Sunfire.

Earlier in January, Perstorp and Uniper signed an agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) granting €97 million in funds to Project Air from the EU Innovation Fund.

Sunfire CEO Nils Aldag said: ”We are proud to contribute our proven alkaline technology to Project Air. Through its unique and multipurpose potential in different sectors, green hydrogen is a master key for climate protection, energy security, creating new jobs, and helping our economies thrive. The project marks a decisive step towards a green industrial transformation for Uniper.”

Axel Wietfeld, CEO of Hydrogen Uniper, stated: “Project Air will allow Uniper to take an important step towards breaking the fossil dependence of the chemical industry. Once fully developed, it will be of high interest to chemical industries around the globe, as it clearly demonstrates the possibility to make the shift from fossil raw materials to circular production. With Sunfire, we have found an excellent partner for a central pillar of the project and are thus driving forward the European hydrogen strategy.”

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