Four projects within Industriklivet have invested more than SEK 300 million

Author： Hits：107 Date：2024-01-16 source：

In December, the Energy Agency provided support for four projects that contribute to climate change through Industriklivet.

Gothenburg Energy、GKN Areospace、Altris、FerroSilva

Industriklivet supports innovative projects that contribute to climate change in the form of research, feasibility studies, pilot projects and investment in commercial facilities. In December, four companies received support to implement innovations in aircraft parts, sodium-ion batteries, fossil-free sponge iron for the steel industry, and bio-CCS.

By supporting everything from feasibility studies, new products and pilot projects to investment in commercial facilities, we pave the way for social climate change through innovation. It accelerates Sweden's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially achieve negative emissions. Clara Helstad, Department Manager for Sustainable Industries at the Energy Agency, said this was crucial, not only to tackle the climate challenge, but also to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness and welfare in the future.

GKN Aerospace Sweden - Additive manufacturing of large aircraft components

Like other sectors of society, aviation needs to adapt and contribute to energy and climate policy goals. New technologies and value chains are being developed and require ongoing support. GKN Aerospace has secured funding to use so-called additive manufacturing to produce large aircraft parts. This means that parts are built layer by layer with metal powder or wire, which has never been done before in the aerospace industry for part sizes of 1-2 meters. At the same time, GKN Aerospace had to meet the high safety requirements set by the aviation industry and the authorities, such as material characteristics, accuracy and ruggedness - which in itself was innovative.

The use of new technologies reduces the use of raw materials, which in the long run means that aircraft can be lighter and use less fuel.

The Energy Agency believes that it is in a good position to promote this solution, as GKN products are currently used in more than 90% of the world's passenger aircraft. The project can also provide new knowledge that can be used in other industries that want to replace casting and forging products, such as Marine applications.

The future commercial facility, when completed, is expected to help reduce CO2 emissions by 25,000 tonnes per year by 2030 and 150,000 tonnes per year in the long term as the components become operational. Surgery.

Altris - sodium ion battery pilot line

To achieve a climate-neutral society, the production of fossil free energy will need to increase dramatically. Since both the production and use of renewable energy are dependent on the weather, there is a great need to find solutions to stabilize the power supply. Today, this is achieved through, among other things, the use of gas turbines, which means increased CO2 emissions. By using battery storage, emissions can be reduced. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are used in most cases, but require expensive raw materials such as cobalt, nickel and copper, among other things.

Under the Project, called Project Atlas, Altris and Northvolt plan to jointly develop the first sodium-ion battery test line based on the Fennac cathode material as a more sustainable alternative to grid stabilization and other battery storage uses. The performance of FENNAC-based batteries is the same as that of iron-based lithium-ion batteries. All raw materials can also be produced within Europe.

The project is an important development step towards the large-scale commercialization of sodium-ion batteries. If successful, the project will produce the first battery prototypes through a competitive scalable manufacturing process. The difference in emissions is equivalent to about a third of conventional battery production.

FerroSilva - fossil-free sponge iron used in steel production

FerroSilva has received support from the Swedish Energy Agency to carry out a feasibility study for a plant to produce fossil-free sponge iron, a raw material for steel production. The proposed process uses biogas (so-called syngas) from forestry and agricultural residue products to reduce iron oxide to iron. In this process, carbon dioxide can be separated for use in subsequent steps, such as for the production of biological methanol.

This investment is an important step towards the production of sponge iron from ore and biomass gasification syngas. The production of sponge iron using this technology can reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional natural gas sponge iron production.

The first plant, capable of producing 50,000 tons of sponge iron per year, is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 68,000 tons per year compared to a natural gas direct reduction plant. The upcoming expansion is planned to be tenfold larger. The technology also has the potential to spread globally.

Gothenburg Energy - Implementation of bio-CCS

By 2045 at the latest, Sweden must no longer emit net greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in order to achieve negative emissions thereafter. One way to achieve negative emissions is through bio-CCS. Energy company Goteborg Energi may become the first company in Sweden to implement bio-CCS in its Gasendal biogas plant. The separation of carbon dioxide has become part of the biogas production process, so a clean stream of carbon dioxide can be obtained. Because the separation step is energy intensive, biogas plants can provide an energy-efficient option for biocCCS.

At the facility, about 7,000 tons of biological carbon dioxide will be liquefied and then transported for final storage.

Project profile

GKN Aerospace received SEK 151.9 million to become the first company to manufacture new aircraft components through large-scale additive manufacturing.

Altris was awarded 106.8 million SEK to develop the first pilot line of sodium-ion batteries based on the cathode material Fennac as a more sustainable alternative to stabilizing the grid and other uses of battery storage.

FerroSilva was awarded SEK 33.9 million to support a feasibility study for a plant to produce sponge iron from ore and syngas from biomass gasification.

Goteborg Energi is supported by SEK 11.2 million to implement the world's first possible bio-CCS value chain.

Issued by the Swedish Energy Agency