Power Systems business unit signs letter of intent for the construction of a demonstration plant for the production of synthetic fuels Schell: “We will be electrifying the entire system, including the fuel” Important step towards sector coupling and decarbonising propulsion systems and power generation

Rolls-Royce intends to support research into green fuels in the Lausitz region of eastern Germany together with the State of Brandenburg, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus and other industrial partners.

The intention is to set up a power-to-x competence center at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg and to construct a demonstration plant for the production of synthetic fuels and chemicals using electric power generated in photovoltaic and wind power plants.

As a former coal and chemical region, the Lausitz region has an abundance of expertise available that can be used to set up a power-to-x competence center.

Synthetic fuels are a decisive factor in energy transition and the use of renewable energies. They are an essential element in the urgently needed sector coupling—the close interconnecting of the individual parts of the energy system, such as electricity and mobility, for example, in addition to heating and cooling. In other words, we will be electrifying the entire system for propulsion and energy purposes, including the fuel, by producing it with renewable energies in a climate neutral .

—Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems

Rolls-Royce is interested in using synthetic fuels in gas and diesel engines and in aircraft engines; it also wishes to contribute its experience and expertise to the project as a provider of complete power generation solutions.

Operating a future power-to-x demonstration plant is a way of obtaining information on the use of synthetic fuels for mobility on land, water and in the air, and on the generation of heat and power, and what the carbon footprint of such a process looks like.

Other partners include the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the chemical company BASF, the Lufthansa Group and the electrolysis specialist Sunfire.