e-fuel production plant in Frankfurt secures €70 million

The combined €70 million backing will finance construction of Europe`s largest sustainable e-fuel production plant in Frankfurt and e-fuel research and development of future key steps in decarbonising aviation.

The new e-fuel financing was announced at the EIB-Group-Forum taking place in Luxembourg and underscores the strategic importance of e-fuels in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation. The new investment will enable INERATEC to scale up production capacity and commercialise its innovative reactor technology, which converts green hydrogen and CO₂ into synthetic aviation fuel. The committed project funding, confirmed earlier in 2025, represents a significant step in commercialisation of INERATEC’s power-to-liquid technology, accelerating the transition towards a net-zero future.

Transforming the energy landscape with e-fuels

INERATEC's production process uses hydrogen, which is then combined with CO₂ from biogenic sources like biogas plants or industrial emissions, using INERATEC’s power-to-liquid technology. This approach enables the production of synthetic crude oil, which can be processed into a range of synthetic fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), marine fuels, and e-diesel. The use of CO₂, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, reduces the carbon-footprint of the fuel and will help to cut carbon emissions.

At the production site outside Frankfurt, the main feedstock is supplied from the industrial park: the CO₂ comes from a biogas plant that recycles waste, and the hydrogen is a by-product from an existing chlorine production facility. By utilising compact and modular production units, INERATEC's approach ensures efficient scalability and adaptability to different production sites.

Beyond sustainable fuels for aviation, the synthetic oil that INERATEC produces can also be used as a base chemical for different sustainable products like plastics. This extends the contribution of INERATEC’s technology to sustainable supply for the chemical industry.

Scaling up to meet market demand

After building and operating plants at demonstration and industrial pilot scale, INERATEC now focuses on scaling up production and optimising commercial deployment. The funding commitment backed by the EIB and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst will enable the company to deliver commercial scale production, ensuring a steady supply of e-Fuels to meet increasing market demand and is critical in making synthetic fuels economically viable.

The plant will produce up to 2500 tpy of e-fuel that will be delivered to the aviation sector, among others. One long haul flight between Frankfurt and New York uses 80 t of kerosene. e-SAF from INERATEC could make flying on this route more sustainable by replacing fossil kerosene fully or partially on many flights. This clearly shows the importance of increasing the e-SAF production capacities beyond a pioneer plant.

The political requirement to shift to more sustainable forms of energy is supported by the European ReFuelEU Aviation-regulation which requires Airlines to use a minimum e-SAF blend of 1.2% by 2030, creating market opportunities.

Bridging innovation and climate goals

The collaboration between INERATEC and the EU-Catalyst Partnership demonstrates how public and private sector partnerships can drive the commercialisation of innovative and clean climate technologies. By building on past EU grant support and leveraging new investment mechanisms, this partnership provides a blueprint for scaling up other clean energy solutions.

Accordingly, it shows the EU's commitment to support innovative technologies that will help EU industry becoming cleaner and stay competitive. The lending by the EIB is made possible thanks to the support of the InvestEU programme, which is backed by an Innovation Fund top-up guarantee. The Innovation Fund is financed by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

The transformation of the European industry to clean technologies is being driven by a number of technological innovations, including the efficient production of hydrogen. EIB supports the latter by also funding an electrolysis-project by the Dresden-based start-up Sunfire. Sunfire and INERATEC were partners in a research project in 2019, when both enterprises for the first time demonstrated the production of sustainable e-fuels from air-captured CO₂ and solar power in a fully integrated plant.

EIB Vice-President Nicola Beer, said: “The EIB is committed to a competitive net-zero economy, especially in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like aviation. Through partnerships such as the EU-Breakthrough Catalyst initiative, we're enabling a green transition for transport and are ultimately contributing to making prices of e-Fuels more economical.”

Mario Fernandez, Head of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, added: “INERATEC is on a promising path towards demonstrating that e-fuels can be economically produced at scale with the support of catalytic funding. Decarbonising aviation requires real-world projects to drive down costs and crowd in investment. Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is proud to partner with INERATEC to accelerate deployment and unlock the potential to make e-fuels a reality.”

INERATEC CEO Dr Tim Boeltken, commented: “This funding marks a new era for INERATEC. With the funding commitment from the EIB and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, we are accelerating the industrialisation of e-fuel production. This will make a tangible impact in reducing CO₂ emissions in sectors where direct electrification is not feasible. The focus now is on scaling up and deploying our technology where it is needed most.”

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/06032025/e-fuel-production-plant-in-frankfurt-secures-70-million/