Engie and Infinium Plan Renewable Aviation, Maritime Fuel Venture

(Bloomberg) -- French utility Engie SA and U.S. engineering company Infinium Holdings are considering a project of more than 500 million euros ($572 million) to produce renewable aviation and maritime fuels in northern France as pressure on the transport industry to cut carbon emission mounts.

The venture, called Reuze, would harness Infinium’s technology to produce so-called e-fuels by using carbon dioxide from ArcelorMittal SA’s steel plant in Dunkirk with green hydrogen produced by a 400-megawatt electrolyzer to be installed by Engie, the companies said in a statement Monday. 

Companies including energy producers, steel and chemical makers are increasingly considering reusing CO2 to produce sustainable synthetic fuels. The European Union and individual members states have pledged billions of euros of subsidies tied to cleanly produced hydrogen as they target net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.

“Hydrogen and e-fuels are going to have an important role to play in reducing the CO2 emissions of difficult-to-decarbonize industrial sectors, as well as in ensuring the sustainability of major transport companies,” said Sebastien Arbola, Engie’s head of thermal generation, hydrogen and energy supply.

The project will apply for French and EU subsidies, Arbola said. It will produce about 2,500 barrels of synthetic fuel per day, which will be used by airlines to meet European regulations that call for higher blending of renewable fuels in jet fuel, said Gaetan Deckers, head of the Reuze project.

Also read: Airline Lobby Assails EU Plan Dictating Sustainable Fuel Use       

Last week, ArcelorMittal announced the French government’s support for a 1.7 billion-euro program to trim the company’s carbon emissions in the country by 40% by 2030. The plan includes building electric furnaces and using hydrogen instead of coal to transform iron ore at its Dunkirk plant.  

The final investment decision for the Reuze project, which has the financial support of a French government agency and backing of the Dunkirk administration, its port and the Hauts-de-France region, is planned by the end of 2023. Commercial start up is expected in 2026.

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