RIFT has signed the Grant Agreement with the European Union’s Innovation Fund for the Alpha One project. Following its earlier selection, this formalises the funding and marks the start of the project under the Innovation Fund. The agreement enables the next phase of project development, including detailed engineering , contracting, and preperation for final investment decision.
As part of the Innovation Fund evaluation, Alpha One was assessed by independent experts as a highly innovative and credible project.
“The innovation is breakthrough… a potential game changer in bringing a solution to decarbonise industrial heat, particularly for high temperature applications for which few alternatives exist.”
The evaluation further highlighted the project’s strong technical foundation, credible business model, and clear pathway towards large-scale deployment.
About Alpha One
Alpha One will be developed at the Evonik site in Antwerp, Belgium and is designed to produce 120,000 tonnes of Iron Fuel annually. This enables the generation of up to 244 GWh of carbon-free industrial heat per year.
Iron Fuel Technology™ uses iron powder as a circular energy carrier. Iron is oxidised to release heat and reduced back using low-carbon hydrogen, creating a closed-loop system. This enables high-temperature heat without direct CO₂ emissions and offers a practical alternative for energy-intensive industries where other decarbonisation routes are limited.
Over the first ten years of operation, the project is expected to avoid approximately 681,895 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
Funding acknowledgement
Funded by the European Union’s Innovation Fund.
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.