CO2 reduction through industrial innovation with P2X: Towards a field lab industrial electrification

10-02-2019

In cooperation with industry associations Deltalinqs and FME, VoltaChem has recently conducted a market scan amongst approximately 50 public and private organizations in the Rotterdam-Moerdijk region, aiming to identify the most important barriers and drivers for industrial electrification. Interviewees indicate that they often develop process improvements individually, while barriers can be overcome by cooperation, learning from past experiences and value chain thinking. National and international experience shows that a field lab can be an important innovation instrument accelerating the adoption of technologies and transforming individual approaches to a cooperative approach that benefits all public and private partners. This is why the set-up of a potential field lab industrial electrification in this area will be further investigated.

The Rotterdam-Moerdijk industrial region has both a climate and socio-economic challenge. The region is largely dependent on gas, oil, and coal and its infrastructure is geared towards using fossil sources. With the increased societal pressure to drastically reduce CO2 emissions, new carbon-neutral technologies, as well as a whole new generation of industrial players, are needed. Stakeholders in the region are in need of new organizational structures, business models and investment structures to remain competitive and survive in the long term. By actively facilitating this change in a concerted public and private effort, industrial activities can be sustained, and new players can be attracted.

Design of the field lab

The proposed Field Lab Industrial Electrification is an environment where Power-to-X technologies are made ready by developing and demonstrating technologies in an industrial environment and in concrete value chains. The proposed field lab would consist of a central hub and on-site demo activities in the industrial cluster. Learnings from the on-site demo activities flow back to the central hub. 

This video gives an impression of what the field lab hub could look like.

The field lab would support accelerating Power-2-Heat and Power-2-Chemicals/Fuels implementation applicable for the whole industrial cluster, by offering: 

• Co-creation: The field lab supports stakeholders in working together on developing, demonstrating, prototyping, validating and scaling up of clean Power-2-X technologies;
• Center of Excellence: Guidance, knowledge, and experience sharing by integrating education and research, linking demand and supply for new technologies;
• Plant of the future: The field lab consists of a central hub with demo/playground-facilities and on-site regional demos for inspiration, experimentation, upscaling and demonstrating the technology to launching customers.

To help build a future for the Rotterdam-Moerdijk industrial cluster using carbon neutral Power-2-X technologies, private businesses, knowledge and education institutes and governments, in other words, all of us, would need to join forces in the proposed field lab development.

Next steps

Plans for the field lab are being detailed in the next months. We will keep you informed on the developments. In case you are interested in participating in the development of the field lab, please feel free to contact our community manager Monique Rijkers.

The results of the exploratory study can be acquired by sending an e-mail

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