Synhelion is claiming a milestone on the road to energy transition by opening the first industrial-scale solar plant for producing synthetic fuels.
DAWN features a 20m-high solar tower and mirror field, which contains a solar receiver, a thermochemical reactor, and a thermal energy storage that enables solar fuel production around the clock at the Jülich site.
Solar radiation is reflected by the mirror field, concentrated onto the receiver, and converted into high-temperature process heat. The generated heat is fed to the thermochemical reactor that produces syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
Syngas is then processed by standard gas-to-liquids technology into fuels, such as jet fuel, gasoline, or diesel. Excess heat is saved in the thermal energy storage to enable continuous operation. On site, the plant will produce synthetic crude oil, syncrude. Production is expected to start this year.
Source: Synhelion
Synhelion, founded in 2016 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich, aims to start building its first commercial plant in Spain in 2025 which will produce around 1,000 tons of fuel per year.
Lufthansa Group and SWISS are strategic investors. Heike Birlenbach, Chief Commercial Officer of Swiss International Air Lines, said the large-scale use of sustainable aviation fuels is one of the most important measures to achieve the CO2 targets in aviation.
She said, “The inauguration of DAWN marks a milestone in this process.”
Dr. Philipp Furler, CEO and Co-Founder of Synhelion, said the inauguration of DAWN marks the beginning of the era of solar fuels and turning point for sustainable transportation. “Our founding dream of producing renewable fuels from solar energy is becoming a reality,” he said.
