FlagshipONE secures environmental permit for Europe’s largest green electrofuel facility

FlagshipONE, the Swedish green fuels project jointly owned by Liquid Wind and Ørsted, has received the environmental permit for building the first large-scale green electrofuel facility for the marine industry. Ground preparations that mark the initial step of the construction phase is planned for 2023.

Image: FlagshipONE illustration, Municipality of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden

The facility will be built in the municipality of Örnsköldsvik in north-east Sweden. The environmental permit was granted by the Land and Environment Court in Umeå 11 months after the application was submitted.

Claes Fredriksson, CEO and Founder of Liquid Wind, comments:  

“Obtaining the environmental permit marks another major milestone for FlagshipONE and the maritime value chain that is planning to bring vessels powered by electrofuel to market. In parallel, we are approaching a final investment decision for FlagshipONE, and just recently we announced our cross-sector collaboration for zero-emission shipping with DFDS, Stena Line, Ørsted and the Port of Gothenburg to establish an electromethanol (e-fuels) hub.” 

 Anders Christian Nordstrøm, COO at Ørsted PtX, comments:  

“I’m delighted that the FlagshipONE project is proceeding at speed. Producing e-fuels for the shipping sector is an important part of Ørsted’s mission to help decarbonize hard-to-abate-sectors. As a company, we’re certain that scalable and modular projects just like FlagshipONE will help us deliver on our ambitious P2X plans.”  

Benny Mai, VP Technical at Liquid Wind, says:  

“We will start construction next year, and on behalf of the Liquid Wind team I would like to thank our partners, supporters and the Sweco engineering team for their dedicated work, helping the project to keep the timeline.”  

Kristina Säfsten, CEO of Övik Energy, says:  

“We are excited about being among the first in the world to capture and use biogenic carbon dioxide to produce electrofuel, here in Örnsköldsvik. With the permit in place, we look forward to the next steps together with the FlagshipONE project team.” 

Since its foundation in May 2017, Liquid Wind has established strategic partnerships with Alfa Laval, Carbon Clean, Siemens Energy, Topsoe, Worley and Uniper. In early 2022, Liquid Wind and Ørsted reached an agreement, under which Ørsted acquired a 45 % ownership share of FlagshipONE. Liquid Wind and the FlagshipONE project have also received the investment grant ‘Klimatklivet’ from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Naturvårdsverket, that works on behalf of the Swedish government.  

About FlagshipONE 

FlagshipONE will be connected to Övik Energi's combined heat and power (CHP) plant Hörneborgsverket in Örnsköldsvik. The facility will upcycle carbon dioxide and combine it with green hydrogen, produced from renewable electricity and water to generate green electrofuel. Once operational, the facility will deliver 50,000 tons of renewable and fossil-free fuel for the shipping industry annually, starting in 2024. 

About green electrofuel  

Green electrofuel, eMethanol, is made from biogenic CO2 sources combined with renewable electricity. It doesn’t add CO2 to the atmosphere*. And it’s designed to help the world significantly reduce its carbon footprint. 

*According to the White Paper ‘Evaluating Marine Fuels Based on a Well-to-Wake Approach for a Successful Transition to Net Zero’, published by Liquid Wind, March 2022.