Port of Aalborg and AAU advance green transition further by relocating Power-to-X test plant

Advancing green transition and reducing CO2 emissions is more important than ever, which is exactly why Port of Aalborg has entered into this collaboration with Aalborg University. The university’s Power-to-X facility is moving today to a new location at the Port of Aalborg to enable the larger scale testing of the systems and help companies to develop their systems.

– Relocation of the plant is of paramount importance in the conversion to green fuels. The climate cannot wait for the green transition technologies to become available. Consequently, we need to be more willing to take risks by building a set-up that can scale up the technologies and implement them quickly in society, says Head of Department at AAU Energy at Aalborg University, Lasse Rosendahl, and adds that it is not possible to enter the market with a technology until it has been demonstrated on a relevant scale.

The aim of the plant is namely to demonstrate on a larger scale that green technologies can also work outside the laboratory and that it is possible to produce green, fossil-free fuels from such resources as electricity and CO2, which Aalborg University researches extensively. Port of Aalborg is supporting this aim by facilitating a large area for the new test centre.

– We cannot expect to convert the heavy-duty element of the transport industry to electricity. Consequently, green fuels shall be produced for use by planes, ships and lorries. However, as with most things, it’s extremely expensive at first – research and scaling up subsequently makes things cheaper. My hope is that the plant can ensure the development that can show how to minimize costs and subsequently enable scaling up so that green fuels can be developed faster, says CEO of Port of Aalborg, Kristian Thulesen Dahl.

A faster test phase affords a faster green transition

Normally, the testing phase of new technologies requires extensive resources, time and money, because you must first build a plant that can test the technology. However, in this collaboration the testing phase and development process can be significantly accelerated, which according to Lasse Rosendahl is essential for achieving the transition to green.

– The testing phase can be really short now, as it is only a matter of testing the technology. Critical decisions can be reached faster, does it work or does it not work? says Lasse Rosendahl-

Playground for engineers and scientists

The new test centre at the Port of Aalborg will be the first where companies and developers can lease and test their technologies. Consequently, one of the aims of the relocation is to use the test facility as a research centre, which both companies and the university can avail of when testing and developing systems and new components.

– If the climate targets are to be achieved, it requires very close cooperation between companies and research environments, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl and continues:

– For example, Aalborg Portland is one of the actors working determinedly with carbon capture. My hope is that captured carbon from Aalborg Portland can be supplied to the test facility and turned into green fuel, which we can utilise at the port. – In that way, we can practically help to show how short the path from a substance that is characterised as black is to a resource that helps us to become green.

Read the full press release (in Danish).