Contracts awarded for concentrated solar-powered green methanol plant

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Vast Renewables, along with Germany-based consortium partner Mabanaft, have awarded international engineering group Fichtner and German e-fuels developer bse Methanol contracts to commence pre-front-end engineering and design (FEED) work for the Solar Methanol 1 (SM1) project.

The SM1 facility, to be located near Port Augusta in South Australia, is to include a 10 MW electrolyser capable of producing 7,500 tonnes of green methanol annually.

The facility will be powered by a co-located 30 MW / 288 MWh concentrated solar thermal (CSP) plant that will leverage Vast’s CSP technology to generate zero-carbon electricity and industrial process heat.

Sydney-based Vast said SM1 is a first-of-its-kind project that aims to be a catalyst for a solar methanol industry in Australia, with the potential to export the fuel to Germany and other global markets.

Vast Chief Executive Officer Craig Wood said pre-FEED is a critical milestone in the development of SM1 with a key part of Fichtner’s work to involve integrating several proven technologies to achieve the project’s green methanol production goals.

These include an electrolysis plant to produce hydrogen, and a dedicated methanol plant that will utilise bse Methanol’s FlexMethanol modules which enable the conversion of energy and carbon dioxide from flue gas into a chemical energy store by means of modular and decentralised production units. The SM1 facility will also include a leilac calcination plant from Australian technology company Calix to capture carbon dioxide produced in the making of cement and lime.

Wood said Fichtner has extensive experience designing and engineering renewable energy projects globally, including energy storage and hydrogen, and the company’s role in the project builds off its recent report that highlighted using CSP in green fuels production can potentially reduce costs by up to 40%.

“Commencing pre-FEED is an important milestone to progress SM1, a green methanol project that has the potential to make a real difference to the hard-to-abate transport sector,” he said. “We’re looking forward to building on Fichtner and bse Methanol’s strong platform of work to date to deliver SM1.”

The SM1 project has secured funding agreements for up to $19.48 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and up to $20 million from Projektträger Jülich (PtJ) on behalf of the German government, as part of HyGATE, a collaboration between the Australian and German governments to support projects along the hydrogen supply chain.

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