Motor Oil and the European Commission signed the Grant Agreement amounting to 127 million euros from the Innovation Fund, for the flagship IRIS project regarding the construction and operation of a Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage system for the e-methanol production at the Ag. Theodori Refinery.
The IRIS project is among the 41 selected among 239 proposals submitted in the context of the second round of calls for submission of “large-scale” projects of the EU Innovation Fund, and only the third concerning a steam methane reformer in Europe.
IRIS will drastically reduce the refinery’s carbon footprint while demonstrating an industrial ecosystem of ultra-low carbon hydrogen production and its utilisation as a clean energy vector.
The captured CO2 will be combined with green electrolytic H2 to produce e-methanol as a low-carbon energy carrier for mobility purposes and for other industrial usage.
George Triantafillou, General Manager of Motor Oil Group Strategy, said: “Motor Oil Group is determined to lead the industry’s energy transition and play a leading role in achieving the industry’s decarbonization goals and consolidating the hydrogen and derivatives market in Greece. The financing from the Innovation Fund of the European Union is an important milestone for the Group.
We remain committed and fully aligned to the 4 billion euro energy transition plan that we have announced, having in fact invested 1 billion euros so far for this purpose.
We are leading the way, leveraging our competitive advantages and we are committed to implementing flagship and pioneering projects and investments that will accelerate the transformation of our country’s energy mix, on the way to ensuring energy independence.”
