The Danish technology firm signed a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) agreement based on its solid oxide electrolysers.

120MW of renewable energy capacity will power Topsoe’s systems. Hydrogen produced at the site in Workington will then be turned into 25,000 tonnes of e-SAF per year.

Backed with £6m by the UK government through its Advanced Fuels Fund, Project Starling is currently in its engineering design phase. Construction is expected to begin in 2028, followed by the first operations in 2031.

Both decisions depend on a final investment decision (FID) from CNF. However, once the plant is running, it could cut lifecycle emissions by 89% compared with fossil-based jet fuel.

The agreement with Topsoe marks the first commercial deployment of its solid oxide technology for clean fuel production.

The CNF modules will be manufactured at its 500MW factory in Herning, Denmark, which came online this year. They will be delivered in 2028, pending the FID.

Sundus Cordelia Ramli, the company’s CCO for Power-to-X, said the contract is “a moment of significant pride for Topsoe,” which has been pushing SOEC for years.

Alasdair Lumsden, co-founder at CNF, added, “The levels of data and research backing the efficacy of their technologies were instrumental in building confidence in their product.”

Topsoe says its high-temperature SOEC technology produces 20-30% more hydrogen per unit of electricity than PEM or alkaline electrolysers, meaning lower energy cost per tonne of hydrogen.

However, despite its potential, SOEC remains a nascent technology, with no large-scale systems operating globally yet.