Industrial Leap invests SEK 16.8 million in e-methane
The Swedish Energy Agency is granting SEK 16.8 million in support to OX2 and Södra Skogsägarna through the Industrial Leap initiative. They will investigate the potential for producing renewable e-methane.
The West Swedish gas grid largely distributes natural gas, with annual consumption amounting to around 7–8 TWh. A smaller share of biogas is also fed into the grid. The West Swedish natural gas market comprises roughly 32,000 users, with around 90 individual facilities consuming about 80 per cent of all gas in the system. Many of these companies depend on gas in their processes and have limited possibilities to choose alternative energy sources. A central part of the transition is therefore to gradually replace fossil gas with renewable gas.
In the project, OX2 and Södra Skogsägarna are examining the possibility of building a plant to produce renewable e-methane. The feedstock would consist of water, carbon dioxide from Södra’s pulp mill and renewable electricity from OX2’s wind farm.
“Should a production facility eventually be implemented, the project has high potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the initiative aligns with the purpose of the Industrial Leap, which is to contribute to reduced carbon emissions,” says Klara Helstad, Deputy Head of the Department for Research, Innovation and Business Development at the Swedish Energy Agency.
A future plant is estimated to have the potential to reduce emissions by 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
E-methane production in Sweden
The facility will combine renewable hydrogen with biogenic carbon dioxide from Södra Skogsägarna’s pulp mill in Värö to produce e-methane that will replace fossil gas in the West Swedish gas grid.
About the Industrial Leap
The Swedish Parliament has adopted the climate target that Sweden should have no net greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere by 2045 and thereafter achieve negative emissions. Major and complex technological advances are required in several industries to reach this goal. To support the transition, the government has established the long-term initiative the Industrial Leap. Since 2021, the Industrial Leap has been part of the green recovery for a climate-smart society following the COVID19 pandemic and is included in the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
