Sasol and Topsoe to develop e-fuels demonstration plant
Published by Willow Munz,
Editorial Assistant
Global Hydrogen Review,
Topsoe, a provider of advanced technology and solutions for the energy transition, Sasol, an energy and chemicals company, Griesemann Gruppe, an industrial service company in Germany, and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have signed a cooperation agreement to enable the construction, operations, and R&D activities of DLR’s e-fuels demonstration facility for research and production of sustainable aviation fuels (e-SAF).
The demonstration plant forms part of DLR’s e-fuels Technology Platform Power-to-Liquid Fuels (TPP), to be constructed at the Leuna Chemical Complex, Germany. The e-fuels produced will comprise mainly of kerosene, using renewable feedstocks such as biogenic CO2 and green hydrogen.
Elena Scaltritti, CCO at Topsoe, said: “Demonstration facilities, like the TPP, are essential for proving the capabilities of new technologies and highlighting the viability of innovative products like e-fuels. We are excited to join forces with DLR, Sasol, and Griesemann to develop this demonstration plant as well as the technologies that will support the rollout of power-to-liquid fuels at scale.”
Sarushen Pillay, Executive Vice President for Business Building, Strategy and Technology at Sasol, commented: “DLR, Topsoe and Sasol’s collaboration stretches over many years, and we are proud that the TPP received funding, our efficient and high yielding G2LTM e-fuels technology was selected, and we can be part of demonstrating and developing e-fuels production. Together with our partners Topsoe and Griesemann we have a team with the expertise to make this project a success, which we believe will be an important step in enabling SAF production at scale, as well as supporting downstream application and flight testing to move us to a fully decarbonised industry.”
Björn Griesemann, CEO at Griesemann Group, added: “The Technology Platform Power-to-Liquid Fuels is the basis for future industrial production and the extensive use of sustainable fuels, particularly in aviation. Our engineering enables the technologies developed by Topsoe and Sasol, as well as the research conducted by DLR, to be transferred into feasible, scalable concepts – thus closing the gap between research and practice.”
The TPP facility began construction on 1 October 2024, and is expected to be the world’s largest research e-fuels production facility and the first in which electricity-based fuels can be demonstrated and tested across the entire technology value chain. The design of the plant allows various processes and technologies to be analysed.
This announcement follows Topsoe and Sasol’s selection late in 2024 to deliver their integrated G2LTM e-fuels technology for the SAF demonstration plant, integrating Topsoe’s innovative eREACT™ technology and hydroprocessing technologies with Sasol’s LTFTTM (low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch) technology. Griesemann Gruppe is working alongside Topsoe and Sasol as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/16102025/sasol-and-topsoe-to-develop-e-fuels-demonstration-plant/