Danish HØST PtX Esbjerg project gains ground

The Danish Environmental Agency has granted the HØST PtX Esbjerg project the primary environmental approvals – EIA approval of the project and environmental approval of the facility, marking a milestone in the project’s development.

Reportedly, one of the major turning points for the development of Power-to-X (PtX) projects in Denmark is the development of domestic hydrogen infrastructure to enable the export of green hydrogen to the European offtake market, and HØST will follow this development and work toward making a final investment decision (FID) to begin the construction of the plant.

The project has already secured large areas of land for the plant, access to green power by signing a grid connection agreement with Energinet as well as a water supply via the nearby wastewater treatment plant operated by DIN Forsyning.

Part of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ (CIP’s) Energy Transition Fund I, HØST PtX Esbjerg is expected to produce up to 120-140,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum for use in the chemicals, steel and refinery industry, predominantly expected in the German market. According to HØST, this corresponds to +600,000 tonnes of green ammonia per annum, which can be used as feedstock to produce green fertilizer or as green maritime fuel.

David Dupont-Mouritzen, Project Director of HØST PtX Esbjerg, commented: “We are extremely pleased to have received the environmental approvals that will allow us to continue the development of installing up to 1 GW of electrolyser capacity in Esbjerg to generate sustainable green fuels such as hydrogen. The approvals not only validate our commitment to the decarbonization of hard-to-electrify sectors, but they also strengthen our belief in the long-term potential of large-scale Power-to-X projects in Denmark. With this important milestone now achieved, we will continue to mature the project towards the next stage of development.”

“Once operational, we anticipate that the HØST plant in itself will directly generate approximately 100-150 permanent local jobs in Esbjerg, which will have a positive impact on the local economy and support sustainable community growth. HØST will also create jobs in existing industry providing service and maintenance to the plant. To make this happen, we are counting on the continued support from national agencies and TSOs.”

To remind, at the beginning of 2024, CIP signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uniper to strengthen collaboration on bringing green hydrogen from the HØST PtX Esbjerg project to Germany. As disclosed, Uniper intends to include this hydrogen in its green gas portfolio and supply the industry’s needs with varying flexibility profiles and with different contract lengths.

In 2023, HØST PtX Esbjerg and Monjasa signed a commercial collaboration agreement (CCA) on logistics services and the offtake of green ammonia for the maritime sector.

At the time, Dupont-Mouritzen said that the cooperation between HØST and Monjasa “will help accelerate the green transformation of an industry that has a considerable potential,” adding: “The green transition in the maritime sector is on the verge of happening, and we wish to maintain the progress with the combined strengths of our partners.”