Liquid Wind plans to have its first e-methanol plant up and running by 2027 in Sweden and is aiming for nine more, mainly in the Nordic region, in the coming years. — Bloomberg
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s Liquid Wind AB has raised €44mil (US$46mil) from companies including Uniper SE and Samsung Ventures for its plan to produce green fuel for the shipping industry.
The firm also attracted capital from UK private equity fund Hycap Ltd in its latest fundraising round, one of the largest for the sector in Europe this year, chief executive officer and founder Claes Fredriksson said in an interview.
Liquid Wind plans to have its first e-methanol plant up and running by 2027 in Sweden and is aiming for nine more, mainly in the Nordic region, in the coming years, he said.
Shipping is one of the dirtiest industries in the world, but aims to become emissions-neutral by the middle of the century.
While there are many possible routes for the sector to decarbonise, the vast majority of the vessels still run on oil-derived fuel and progress on cutting emissions has been extremely slow.
“We know that we need to convert the fuel in the hard-to-abate sectors, including shipping, that is something we have to do as a society,” Fredriksson said.
“We have regulation that is taking us in that direction.”
The funding could also be a confidence boost for Sweden’s green-tech ambitions, which have wobbled in the past few months.
Europe’s first home-grown battery maker Northvolt AB is fighting for survival and, among other delays or cancellations, Vattenfall AB halted a project to make sustainable aviation fuel.
Iron-ore giant LKAB is curtailing plans to produce fossil-free sponge iron at a site in northern Sweden.
“It’s tough times right now, but for those who stick with it and keep going, I think we’ll see a lot of uptake sooner than you think,” Fredriksson said.
Danish utility Orsted A/S this summer scrapped plans for its FlagshipONE efuels project, developed by Liquid Wind, citing a lack of market interest.
But Fredriksson said that there is strong demand in the product both from commodity traders and consumers.
Liquid Wind’s plants will be standardised, producing as much as 100,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year.
That will make the process of getting them online quicker and more efficient, Fredriksson said.
The plants themselves will cost about €500mil to build and will be financed separately, he said.
After the latest funding round, Uniper is the firm’s biggest outside investor, Fredriksson said, declining to provide more details on shareholdings other than to say that his family firm holds the largest stake which is below 50%. — Bloomberg
