Copenhagen Airports has partnered with A.P. Moller – Maersk, DSV Panalpina, DFDS, SAS and Ørsted to boost sustainable fuels consumption for road, maritime and air transport in the Greater Copenhagen Area.

The alliance couples the demand and supply side of sustainable fuels with a vision to develop a ‘ground breaking’ hydrogen and e-fuel production facility.

This would be constructed in stages, with stage one operational by 2023.

When fully scaled up by 2030, the project could deliver more than 250,000 tonnes of sustainable fuel for buses, trucks, maritime vessels and airlines every year.

FOSSIL FUEL REDUCTION

Importantly for the Danish airport operator, the project has the potential to displace 5% of Copenhagen Airport’s fossil fuels by 2027, and 30% by 2030.

A potential electrolyser capacity of 1.3 gigawatts in total (by 2030) is being tipped to power production from a facility that could reduce carbon emissions by 850,000 tonnes.

The large renewable electricity supply could possibly derive from offshore wind power produced at Rønne Banke, off the island of Bornholm.

Denmark already has ambitious policies for decarbonisation and therefore it is no surprise that the project is being supported by the municipal government, with a wider plan to catalyse similar projects in Denmark.

Various modes of transport operated by the partners will be fuelled through the supply of renewable hydrogen, renewable methanol and in the case of air transport at Copenhagen, renewable jet fuel (e-kerosene) for SAS.

While businesses around the globe have been deeply impacted by the coronavirus (Covid-19), the partners in the project view a dual opportunity to accelerate the pace of the ‘green revolution’, while providing a timely economic stimulus to Denmark’s economy.

In a joint announcement, the parties say the programme will now move forward to dialogue with relevant regulatory authorities on the framework and polices required to support the large-scale usage of sustainable fuels for the country’s transport sector.

The project will also seek public co-funding to conduct a full feasibility study. If the study confirms the viability of the project, a final investment decision for the first stage could likely be taken as soon as 2021.

Thomas Woldbye, CEO, CPH Airport, said: “Whether we operate in road transport, shipping or aviation, we all have a major task to contribute to the sustainable transition in Denmark.

“The challenge of creating a future-proof and sustainable fuel is common to everyone in the transport sector, and the fact that we are now working together in a partnership is crucial for us to be able to produce sustainable fuel in the necessary quantities.

“It also supports the ambition to transition Danish aviation to become completely free of carbon emissions in 2050 and make Denmark a pioneer in the development of future climate-friendly fuels.”

Simon Pauck Hansen, Executive Vice President and COO of Airline Operations, SAS added: “SAS has very ambitious targets to reduce its climate affecting emissions and one of the key drivers is to use sustainable aviation fuels.

“We support multiple initiatives and projects in our home market and hope that this project can commercialise and become an accelerator for the transition to decarbonised aviation.”