The largest production plant for sustainable aviation fuels to date in Germany is to be built at the Schwedt refinery site in Brandenburg. The Federal Ministry of Economics has approved the implementation of the almost 500 million euro Concrete Chemicals project at the PCK refinery Schwedt site. The federal government and the state of Brandenburg had already promised funding totaling 350 million euros last year. The review by the European Commission is in the final phase. The project partners Enertrag and Zaffra originally wanted to build the plant at the site of the cement manufacturer Cemex in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. The Brandenburg energy company Enertrag and the Dutch project partner Zaffra, a joint venture between the South African fuel manufacturer Sasol and the refinery service provider Topsoe from Denmark, are working together in Concrete Chemicals GmbH as part of the project approved by the European Commission as an “Important Project of Common European Interest” (IPCEI). In Schwedt, they want to build, among other things, an electrolyzer for the production of green hydrogen and a Fischer-Tropsch plant for the production of synthetic aviation fuels from hydrogen and carbon monoxide on an industrial scale. A final investment decision is expected to be made in 2027. Up to 30,000 tons of e-kerosene and e-naphtha could be produced as early as 2030. The project in Schwedt could therefore make a significant contribution to meeting the blending requirements for sustainable aviation fuels within the framework of the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation in Germany. For the Schwedt refinery site, which has been cut off from Russian crude oil since the beginning of 2023 and is also facing an uncertain future due to the unclear ownership structure with the Russian oil company Rosneft as the majority owner of the PCK refinery under trust, the project could mark the start of the conversion from a petrochemical to an electrochemical site. New business model for the refinery site “It is about developing new business models, for example the development of synthetic fuels for the refinery Air traffic,” said Franz Wetzel, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, at the end of July after the last meeting of the state government’s Task Force PCK in Potsdam. The PCK Refinery had already presented a feasibility study for a billion-dollar conversion of the site in this direction in spring 2023 together with Enertrag. “We have the prerequisites to implement a transformation project that is unique in Germany,” said PCK Managing Director Ralf Schairer in Potsdam at the end of July. “We are convinced that Schwedt will be one of the most important locations for the production of synthetic kerosene,” said Enertrag board member Tobias Bischof-Niemz to the F.A.Z.More on the subjectIn the industrial park in Schwedt, areas owned by PCK Schwedt would be made available for the establishment of the Concrete Chemicals project, the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Thursday. According to reports, it is still unclear whether the project will be implemented on the PCK refinery site or on other commercial areas. The trust management of the assets of Rosneft’s German subsidiaries by the Federal Network Agency, which was initially ordered by the Federal Ministry of Economics in September 2022 for six months and has since been extended six times for half a year, makes it more difficult for external investors such as Concrete Chemicals to use the site in a legally secure manner. Regardless, the consortium is planning to cooperate with the paper and cardboard manufacturer Leipa’s factory in Schwedt, which extracts carbon dioxide from the natural carbon cycle for the production of synthetic could supply aviation fuel. The location also has the potential for the expansion of renewable energies in the region. This is a prerequisite for the production of green hydrogen, which is used as synthesis gas in the production of sustainable aviation fuel using the power-to-liquid process.
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