The Navigator Company and P2X-Europe to produce eFuels in Portugal

The Navigator Company and Hamburg-based developer P2X-Europe to create a unique and powerful joint venture, P2X-Portugal, to develop a world-class production facility for industrial-scale production of non-fossil jet fuels or e-SAFs (e-Sustainable Aviation Fuels) – carbon-neutral synthetic kerosene, based on green hydrogen and biogenic CO2.

This project leverages Portugal’s highly competitive renewable energy sources and biogenic CO2 generated by Navigator’s biorefineries using sustainable forests, which together constitute the two critical elements for the successful production of net-zero synthetic feedstocks for the chemical industry and jet fuels on an industrial scale, fostering the decarbonization of the aviation industry.

The JV is tapping into the extensive know-how of P2X-Europe, a global pioneer in PtL (Power-to-Liquids) project development and technology configuration and its parent companies’ H&R Group and Mabanaft market expertise in waxes for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry and in liquid fuels. Furthermore, the quality of the JV builds on Navigator’s vast industrial operational experience in biorefinery plants and forestry capabilities.

P2X-Portugal is a determined agile frontrunner well on course to become an international reference for the market introduction and commercialization of innovative synthetic aviation fuel products at scale.

The establishment in Navigator’s Figueira da Foz site marks a key milestone for Portugal and Europe on the road towards building up a fully integrated eSAF ecosystem, as well as demonstrating a sustainable approach to the decarbonization of the aviation sector.

The joint venture by the name of P2X-Portugal will bring together leading technology and engineering companies and integrates the whole process value chain from feedstock sourcing to market introduction and product distribution.

Comprising carbon capture of up to 280,000 tons of biogenic CO2 and several hundred megawatts of new renewable energy capacity, the project aims at reaching a total net-zero synthetic PtL production capacity of 80,000 tons per year when fully developed, allowing to reduce annual carbon emissions of up to 280,000 tons.

The facility will integrate several innovative technology components and use a proven conversion process, leveraging recent process improvements and technologies to maximize its sustainability and system efficiency.

For the integrated PtL facility alone the project capex can total €550-600 million during the first two development phases, comprising a green H2 production plant, biogenic CO2-capturing equipment, and a production capacity of 40,000 tons per year of synthetic products.

The Portuguese Government has granted P2X-Portugal’s ambitious PtL project the status of “Project of National Interest” (PIN), which is a relevant testimony to the strength and maturity of P2X-Portugal’s overall project quality.

Subject to the fulfilment of identified conditions precedents and to positive final investment decision by mid-2023, the project is scheduled to start commercial operations as early as the first half of 2026.

Major location advantages include access to 100% green (solar and wind) electricity as the primary feedstock for green hydrogen production from the electrolysis of water together with one of the richest biogenic carbon dioxide point sources available in Europe: Navigator’s biorefinery located at Figueira da Foz, 140 km north of Lisbon, which generates process biogenic CO2 derived from sustainable and certified forests.

Biogenic CO2 is originally sequestered from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and stored in trees. Using sustainable forest material in biorefinery industrial processes leads to biogenic CO2 emissions, ensuring a net zero emissions carbon cycle.

P2X-Portugal’s synthetic end-products result from a fully sustainable transformation process initiated with renewable electricity from solar and wind and solar-driven photosynthesis. Through this process, P2X-Portugal will be storing solar and wind energy in synthetic liquid fuel.

The project contributes to the early development of a new strategic value chain in Portugal and key EU initiatives such as the Green Deal, the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the REPowerEU.