The venture, which goes by the name Flagship One, would have become Europe's largest facility for e-methanol. The facility was intended to produce 50,000 tons of fossil-free fuel for shipping, starting in 2025. According to calculations, this would reduce emissions by 100,000 tons per year.
In early December last year, it came into the spotlight when Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced that his Breakthrough Energy, in collaboration with the EU and the European Investment Bank, would invest more than 1.3 billion kronor.
Slower than expected
Ørsted cites in its quarterly report that the market for e-methanol in Europe has developed slower than expected as the reason for abandoning the venture.
In connection with the announcement, Ørsted is making a write-down of 2.3 billion Swedish kronor for the first half of the year.
Municipally-owned Övik Energi was caught off guard by Ørsted's decision. The idea was that Övik Energi would supply Flagship One with residual flows from its combined heat and power plant.
This was not a message we had expected, says Övik Energi's CEO Roland Nordin and continues:
At the same time, we see how things look in the world with war and other external factors, which make the green transition perhaps go a bit slower right now.
"A bump"
Municipal Councilor Anna-Britta Åkerlind (C) notes that the attention and capital from Bill Gates were not enough.
It contributed to a sense of security when external assessors wanted to invest their risk capital in the project. But things have happened on the market since then, and we're now seeing the effects of it.
Both Roland Nordin and Anna-Britta Åkerlind believe that an actor – Ørsted or someone else – will be active in Örnsköldsvik in a few years.
The EU has worked very strongly with the green transition and prepared regulations for greener fuels. But the pace has slowed down, and the shipping industry sees that it doesn't need to move as fast in the transition, which affects demand. I see what's happened now as a bump in development, says Anna-Britta Åkerlind.
