Image: HIF
 

The Haru Oni efuels pilot plant at Punta Arenas in southern Chile has been officially opened and production started.

 

The plant, which is powered by its own 3.4MW wind turbine, is utilising water and carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere to produce green hydrogen and in turn the synthetic or efuels that open a way for decarbonising transport without the need to replace existing internal combustion engines.

 

In the pilot phase, the production of efuels, including carbon neutral methanol, carbon neutral gasoline and carbon neutral liquefied gas, of around 130,000 litres per year is planned.

 

Initially the fuel is to be used in lighthouse projects such as the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and at Porsche Experience Centres.

 

Following the pilot phase, the first scaling will take the project up to a projected 55Ml per year by the middle of the decade.

 

With further scaling the capacity is expected to increase by a further factor ten to 550Ml per year around 2027.

 

“Porsche is committed to a double-e path: e-mobility and efuels as a complementary technology. Using efuels reduces CO2 emissions,” says Barbara Frenkel, Member of the Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche AG.

 

“Looking at the entire traffic sector, the industrial production of synthetic fuels should keep being pushed forward worldwide.”

 

With more than 1.3 billion vehicles with combustion engines on the roads worldwide, many likely to be there for many years to come, the potential for efuels as a carbon neutral fuel replacement is significant.

 

The Haru Oni project, so far the largest of its kind in Latin America and one of the first worldwide, is an initiative of the global efuels company Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF) in partnership with Porsche as well as Siemens Energy, Enel Green Power, the Chilean state energy company Enap, the gas distribution company Empresas Gasco and ExxonMobil.

 

The project with a $74 million investment, has a 1.2MW electrolyser.

 

The location in the Magallanes region in southern Chile offers excellent wind potential, while the nearby port of Cabo Negro and its proximity to the Strait of Magellan offers the facilities for the export of the efuels worldwide.

 

Commercial operations are expected to start in March 2023.