What are industry priorities, needs and potential contributions to the value chains of solar fuels and chemicals in Europe? How can solar fuels and chemicals contribute to industry decarbonisation and EU competitiveness vis-à-vis global competition? What are possible viable business models and the measures needed to support de-risking and investments in this field?

These topics will be at the core of SUNER-C (Horizon Europe CSA project) workshop ‘Towards an Innovation Ecosystem for Solar Fuels and Chemicals in Europe’, taking place on 2-3 July 2024 in Ghent, Belgium. The workshop (lunch-to-lunch) will be followed by a site visit to the ArcelorMittal Steelanol plant on July 3rd afternoon.

Registration deadline: 20 June

Register here.

Additional Information

The workshop targets industry, research organisations, academia, policy makers and societal stakeholders in the field of solar fuels and chemicals. It focuses on industry and will involve input from key industrial stakeholders through pitches about their needs and expectations from governments, policymakers, and consumers. The programme will also include breakout sessions (on financial de-risking, business models development, centralised vs decentralised applications) to share views and propose possible routes to overcome challenges, and a policy session with European Commission representatives.

The main objectives of the workshop include:

• Identifying & discussing industry priorities, needs & potential contributions to value chains of solar fuels and chemicals in Europe
• Proposing business models in the area of solar fuels and chemicals, stemming from techno-economic considerations
• Further developing the EU innovation ecosystem on solar fuels and chemicals and discuss needs and priorities with EU policymakers.

Confirmed industry speakers for the pitches:

• Hannah Johnson, Toyota Motor Europe – Senior Engineer (Sun-To-X Project coordinator)
• Matthijs Ruitenbeek, Dow Chemical – Senior Scientist Sustainable Carbon Cycles
• Babette Pettersen, LanzaTech – VP Europe (Steelanol Project)
• Ivan Souček, Association of Chemical Industry of the Czech Republic – Director
• Joost Smits, Shell – Principal Science Expert
• Esther Santos, Apria Systems – R&D Project Manager (REFINE Project)
• Marc Borghans, ING – Director Sustainable Structured Finance
• Ludo Diels, VITO – Senior Advisor (Processes4Planet Partnership)
• Oskar Meijerink , SkyNRG – Head of Future Fuels - SAF
• Sophie Loots, ZuidtrAnt Energy Cooperative – ‘Heat & Sun’ Responsible
• Pau Farras, University of Galway – Associate Professor (FlowPhotoChem Project)
• Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, Solar Foods – co-founder and CTO
• Christoph Falter, Synhelion – Head Strategy
• Vincent Artero, CEA – Research Director
• Max Fleischer, Siemens Energy – Chief Key Expert

Venue Information

The venue of the workshop and visit will be:

• July 2-3: Workshop at iGent (Building 126) Science Park of Ghent University (Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 126, 9052 Ghent, Belgium)
• July 2nd evening: Drinks and dinner at iGent (Building 126) Science Park of Ghent University
• July 3rd afternoon, Visit at ArcelorMittal Steelanol Plant (John Kennedylaan 51 - 9042 Ghent, Belgium)

Please check the attachment here with all the practicalities on how to get to the venue and hotel suggestions nearby.

ArcelorMittal Visit: On the second day, the 3rd of July from 13:50-18:10, project partner ArcelorMittal Belgium will provide a site visit of the ArcelorMittal Steelanol plant (limited number of participants). Please note that a bus transfer to the plant will be provided by the organisers, and the drop-off destination of the bus after the visit will be Gent-Sint-Pieters train station.

More details are available in the draft agenda here.