Synhelion's technology utilizes solar energy to convert CO2 and H2O into carbon-neutral solar fuels. Through a system of mirrors, solar radiation is concentrated onto a receiver, generating high-temperature process heat which used in a thermochemical reactor to produce syngas. This syngas is then converted into syncrude using standard gas-to-liquids technology. The syncrude is post-processed into commonly know fuels (focus in jet fuel, with also some production of diesel, and gasoline) in existing infrastructure. A thermal energy storage allows for continuous operations of the syngas production.

Roadmap

• First industrial plant DAWN is located in Jülich, Germany. Start of operations in 2024.

• In 2025, Synhelion plans to start construction of their first commercial production facility in Spain with a capacity of 1.000 tons of solar fuel per year. Fuel has been allocated to customers already.

• By 2033, the company is planning a production capacity of 1 million tons of solar fuel per year.

• By 2040, the expected production will be of 40 million tons of fuel per year.

PROJECTS & PARTNERSHIPS

Project: DAWN

• DAWN is their first industrial-scale solar fuel plant that will demonstrate the entire Sun-to-Liquid process on an industrial scale.

• Location: Jülich, Germany

• Capacity will be at the scale of a couple of thousand liters of solar fuel per year.

• The construction and commissioning period: 2023/2024.

• The syngas will be then processed into syncrude using standard Fischer-Tropsch process, which can then be refined into jet fuel, gasoline, or diesel.

• June, 2024: the construction phase of plant DAWN is completed and the plant has been inauguarted.

Zurich Airport Ltd. and Synhelion Agreement

• During 2024, Zurich Airport Ltd. signed a five-year agreement to purchase 30,000 liters of solar diesel annually from Synhelion starting in 2027.

SGV’s Solar Fuel Transition

• Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (SGV) will purchase 100 tons of Synhelion’s solar fuel annually over five years. Starting in 2027, historic steamboats, like Gallia, will operate sustainably without engine modifications, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Pilatus Aircraft's Solar Fuel Initiative

• Pilatus Aircraft signed a five-year agreement to acquire 200 tons of solar kerosene annually from Synhelion starting in 2027.

Synhelion is a fuel producer, with the goal of deploying and operating industrial scale demonstration plants till competitive plant scale (production capacity of 100 ktpa). Once reach that point, their aim is to veer to be a technology license provider.

Synhelion has developed a sun-to-liquid technology, that uses solar energy to convert CO2 and water into carbon-neutral solar fuels.

• The solar radiation is reflected by a mirror field (heliostats), concentrated onto a receiver on a solar tower, and converted into high-temperature process heat (beyond 1.500°C).

• The generated heat is fed to the thermal energy storage and the thermochemical reactor.

• The thermal energy storage is charged with the majority of the high-temperature heat to enable continuous operation of the thermochemical reactor (e.g., during night time).

• The thermochemical reactor produces syngas (CO+H2). The syngas is then liquified into syncrude using standard gas-to-liquids technology. The syncrude is post-processed into solar fuels such as jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline in existing infrastructure.

• Synhelion's technology is feedstock agnostic. Possible sources for carbon are Direct Air Capture (DAC), industrial point sources, or biomass.

Solar fuels are identical with conventional fuels, though they are expected to contain fewer impurities.

Ideal conditions to install a facility are in desert and high insolation areas with a direct normal irradiation (DNI) above 1.800 kWh/m2.

Synhelion’s fuels reduce emissions by >80% compared to fossil fuels.

Synhelion has patented their:

• Heliostats and controlls
• Receiver
• Reactor
• Energy storage

Synhelion primarily focuses on the hard to abate aviation industry by providing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In addition, drop in fuels such as sustainable diesel and gasoline will be provided for road and shipping applications.

Synhelion produces the following sustainable drop in fuels:

• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
• Sustainable Diesel
• Sustainable Gasoline