Steeper Energy, Silva Green Fuel to build advanced biofuel project
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Steeper Energy, a Danish-Canadian clean-fuel company, is partnering with Silva Green Fuel, a Norwegian-Swedish JV, to construct a EUR 50.6 MM (DKK 377 MM) industrial scale demonstration plant at a former pulp mill located in Tofte, Norway leading to a future commercial scale project.
Steeper will license its proprietary Hydrofaction technology to Silva, who will build the facility over the next 18 mos. The demonstration plant will use woody residues as feedstock that are converted to renewable crude oil and, in turn, will be upgraded to renewable diesel, jet or marine fuel.
Steeper’s Hydrofaction technology was selected by Silva after an exhaustive due diligence review of some 40 other technologies. Hydrofaction harnesses water brought to super-critical conditions, to cost effectively convert biomass to high-value liquid biofuels.
The partnership between Silva Green Fuel and Steeper will confirm engineering data and design protocols to de-risk future commercial scale facilities planned to be built by Silva and will be offered by Steeper globally to other biofuel project developers.
Silva is a joint venture between Norway’s Statkraft, a leading company in hydropower internationally and Europe's largest generator of renewable energy, and Sweden’s Södra, a cooperative of 50,000 forest owners with extensive forestry operations and a leading producer of paper pulp, sawn timber and bioenergy.
With global trade growth, heavy and long-haul transport sector emissions are increasing, and low-carbon options for road diesel, marine and jet biofuels will help meet carbon reduction targets.
Steeper’s biofuel easily integrates into existing petroleum infrastructure and is physically comparable to fossil fuels. Hydrofaction utilizes many other feedstocks, including organic wastes, agricultural residues, and animal manure.
Steeper is entertaining partnerships with biomass aggregators or energy producers to develop similar commercial-scale projects, and is grateful to the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 SME program for financial support.
Comments