Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, alongside the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (“EIB”), announced funding commitments to the partnership’s first two European projects today: the Ørsted FlagshipONE project, the largest e-Methanol project in Europe, and Energy Dome’s Ottana Project, a first-of-a-kind long duration energy storage project deploying Energy Dome’s CO2 Battery technology. The EU-Catalyst partnership plans to mobilize up to €840 million of public and private funds to accelerate the deployment of emerging climate technologies.
Catalyst will acquire an approximately 15% equity interest in Ørsted’s FlagshipONE project and provide a grant, alongside a quasi-equity investment from the EIB and a grant from the European Commission, subject to the satisfaction of funding conditions. FlagshipONE will utilize hydrogen produced from renewable energy, and biogenic carbon dioxide captured from a biomass-fired combined heat and power plant, to produce up to 55,000 tons of e-Methanol per year. This first-of-a-kind, commercial-scale ‘Power-to-X project would be Europe’s largest e-Methanol plant, and will supply fuel to decarbonize the shipping sector, which accounts for approximately 3% of global carbon emissions.
Additionally, Catalyst has committed to a project-level grant of up to €35 million to support construction of Energy Dome’s Ottana CO2 Battery Project, subject to the satisfaction of funding conditions. EIB has also made a €25 million Venture Debt financing commitment, subject to the satisfaction of funding conditions. The project will be located in Sardinia, Italy, and will use a standard frame 20MW / 200MWh CO2 Battery capable of delivering energy to the grid for 10 consecutive hours. Energy Dome’s technology will provide energy storage and grid services, with robust performance (high round-trip efficiency) and capex requirements that are more competitive than Lithium-Ion for utility-scale long duration energy storage.
Read more about the EU-Catalyst partnership, the Orsted FlagshipONE project, and the Energy Dome project.
