HIF GLOBAL’S HARU ONI EFUELS PILOT PLANT IN CHILE OFFICIALLY OPENS

In the presence of Chilean Energy Minister, Diego Pardow, the Haru Oni pilot plant in Punta Arenas, Chile, was officially opened on the twentieth of December. Porsche Executive Board members, Barbara Frenkel and Michael Steiner, performed the ceremonial fuelling of a new 911 with the first synthetic fuel produced at the site. The goal? To produce efuels made from water and carbon dioxide using wind energy to enable near CO neutral operation of all petrol engines, including not only new internal combustion engines, but also those already in operation on the world fleet.

“Porsche is committed to a double-e path: e-mobility and efuels as a complementary technology,” says Frenkel, Member of the Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche AG. “Using efuels reduces CO emissions. Looking at the entire traffic sector, the industrial production of synthetic fuels should keep being pushed forward worldwide. With this efuels pilot plant, Porsche is playing a leading role in such development,” she added.

“The potential for efuels is huge,” smiles Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Development and Research at Porsche AG. “Worldwide, there are currently more than 1.3 billion vehicles powered by combustion engines.

Many of these will be on the roads for decades to come. efuels offer the owners of existing cars a nearly carbon-neutral alternative to currently available fuels. As the manufacturer of high-performance, efficient engines, Porsche has a wide range of know-how in this field.”

During the Haru Oni facility’s pilot phase, efuel production of around 130,000 litres per year is planned. Initially, the fuel is to be used in lighthouse projects, such as the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and at Porsche Experience Centres. After this pilot phase is complete (and captured data is analysed), the first upscaling of production will take the plant to a projected fiftyfive million litres per year by 2025. In 2027, capacity is expected to be 550 million litres.

The south of Chile offers ideal conditions for the production of efuels, with wind blowing for around 270 days a year, enabling the site’s turbines to operate at full capacity. Punta Arenas is also located close to the Strait of Magellan. From the port of Cabo Negro, the synthetic efuel can be transported all over the world, just like traditional fuels, and can be distributed using existing infrastructure.

Porsche is working towards a CO -neutral balance sheet across the company’s entire value chain, with ambition to achieve its goal by 2030. Efforts include a CO -neutral usage phase for future all-electric Porsche vehicles. It should be noted, synthetic fuels supplement electromobility and are part of the sports car manufacturer’s sustainability strategy. Even so, Porsche has already invested more than $100,000,000 in the development and production of efuels — $75,000,000 was invested in HIF Global LLC in April 2022. This company plans, builds and operates efuel plants in Chile, USA and Australia.

“We will continue to build modern combustion engines,” says Porsche CEO, Oliver Blume. “efuels are an effective, complementary solution to electromobility. They can enable all vehicles to play a role in reducing CO , regardless of powertrain type. Combustion engines can be powered with efuels in a virtually carbon-neutral manner and don’t have to be converted for the fuel to work. Importantly, efuels can be offered as an admixture or as a standalone product at all existing fuel filling stations.”

SYNTHETIC FUELS ARE PART OF THE SPORTS CAR MANUFACTURER’S SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY