The EU-Catalyst partnership will accelerate the deployment of emerging climate technologies
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.
