The Danish seaport's East Port will, as of August 2023, house a new 3,000 m2 plant of the University of Aalborg, with space for potentially adding four more test facilities.

"The project will be the backbone of our future development projects that are crucial for realizing large-scale production of, for example, hydrogen and e-methanol. With Port of Aalborg, we will have the optimal conditions for developing our research and technologies in practice, in order to scale up production in the future. At the same time, we also make it possible for commercial players to test the facilities in order for us to realize the enormous potential of CCUS [carbon capture, utilisation, storage], which will be crucial for achieving national and international climate goals in the coming years," explained Lasse Rosendahl, Head of Department and Professor at AAU Energy at Aalborg University.

Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the Port of Aalborg's CEO, added, "We are very pleased to facilitate the space for the facility as well as our collaboration with Aalborg University and its world-leading research environments within CCU and PtX. A project like this fits well in the area, where we already have a strong cluster of companies working with the technologies in different ways."

Lasse Frimand Jensen, the Port of Aalborg's Board Chairman, also commented, "By collaborating with AAU on the test facility, we look forward to also work with actors from CO2Vision [a consortium gathering diverse parties from Denmark] and across the value chain to help translate the university's world-class research into a tangible product, which both contribute to the green transition as well as growth and new jobs in the area."

In 2022, the Port of Aalborg and European Energy signed a letter of intent to establish a power-to-X (P2X) plant with an e-methanol-producing capacity of up to 75kt/year.

Also last year, the Port of Aalborg and Aalborg University teamed up with Aalborg Airport, Kosan Gas, Vertimass, Hydrogen Valley and European Energy to start the MeSAF project, which seeks to produce green aviation fuel (and potentially supply a domestic route in Denmark in the future).

The relocation announcement comes just after Fidelis New Energy and the Port of Aalborg announced the construction of up to 4.0mt/year CO2 receiving facility (up & running from 2026).

Photo: Port of Aalborg