The HyLion network has set itself the goal of establishing a transnational, European end-to-end supply chain for CO2-reduced hydrogen and e-methanol. The plan is to produce e-methanol in Scotland and supply it for various applications in the United Kingdom and Europe – including Germany. The Ludwigsburg-based management and IT consultancy MHP is supporting this project both strategically and operationally in the area of setting up and digitizing an efficient supply chain. Markus Wambach, Group COO at MHP: “HyLion, as a network of many strong partners, has the potential to produce e-methanol in Europe for Europe and thus make an important contribution to the decarbonization of global supply chains. With AI applications, they can also be made more efficient overall. And with a transnational supply chain for CO2-reduced hydrogen and e-methanol, the basis can be created for greenhouse gas-reduced solutions in shipping and aviation and even for motor sports.”

Pilot project with specific targets

In a first pilot, it is planned to use 63,000 tons of biogenic CO2 per year for the production of e-methanol. This CO2 is to come from biomass on the one hand and from the whisky industry on the other. This will result in 9,000 tons of hydrogen and 45,000 tons of e-methanol per year for the pilot project. In addition to the initially planned production volume of 25 tons of hydrogen and the resulting 125 tons of e-methanol per day, there are already enormous opportunities for scaling up in the following years from today's perspective: electrolyzer capacities can be expanded significantly and almost modularly; from today's perspective, around 380,000 tons of CO2 from biomass and 300,000 tons of CO2 from the whiskey industry are also available for the HyLion network. The planned start of production of the plant is expected to be at the beginning of 2028.

Demand for e-methanol is increasing

“CO2-reduced hydrogen plays an important role in achieving climate targets. The stricter CO2 reduction targets and the increasing number of political decisions to replace fossil fuels will significantly increase the demand for e-methanol in the future. The abundant wind resources in Northern Europe, and in particular in Scotland, provide an ideal basis for the scalable production of CO2-reduced hydrogen and derivatives,” explains Dr. Sylvia Trage, Partner at MHP and responsible for Supply Chain Excellence.

Network of renowned companies

The plan is for E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions to provide the biogenic CO2 for the production of e-methanol from the biomass power plant in Lockerbie. The other part comes from the whisky production process. The Carbon Removers and CO2 Recovery Ltd will recover, liquefy and store the CO2. Both will then be processed in an e-methanol synthesis plant of a European company. The hydrogen required for the e-methanol synthesis will be produced using an electrolyzer (80 megawatts) from the French company McPhy Energy S.A.S. Bosch Manufacturing Solutions GmbH will take over the water treatment and, if necessary, desalination. The hydrogen produced will then be fed into a synthesis process together with the biogenic CO2 to produce e-methanol. P1 Fuels' technology will convert e-methanol into an e-fuel that can be seamlessly integrated into the existing fuel infrastructure and offers a solution for decarbonization for the automotive industry, international and national racing series, and light aircraft, for example. Another customer for the e-methanol is to be the shipping company Cadeler A/S.

Site in the south of Scotland

The site in the south of Scotland, operated by E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions, offers numerous advantages, such as a developed infrastructure, a connection to the power grid and local energy supply. Mareneco Ltd will supply, handle and transport the e-methanol for the shipping industry, for example to the ports of Cairnryan and Grangemouth.

MHP has a leading advisory role

Within the network, MHP is providing consulting expertise in the area of strategic business development and comprehensive network coordination in the various project phases, as well as in the digitization of the entire supply chain. Once this has been established, the experience can be transferred to comparable projects. In this context, suitable use cases, such as in transportation and logistics applications, are also to be initiated. ARUP – a global engineering and sustainable development consultancy – is responsible for the front-end engineering design (FEED) in close coordination with MHP and the network partners.

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