Synhelion has finished building its first industrial-scale demonstration plant, DAWN, in Jülich, Germany. Starting June 2024, the company will produce carbon-neutral aviation fuel using concentrated solar energy.

Founded in 2016 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Synhelion has completed the installation of all heliostat field mirrors at the DAWN plant. This marks the end of the construction phase, allowing Synhelion to test its Sun-to-Liquid technology on an industrial scale at the Research Center Jülich.

Meanwhile, Synhelion plans to open its first commercial solar fuel plant in Spain by 2025 or 2026. This plant aims to produce around 1,000 tons of solar fuel per year, meeting about half of Switzerland’s aviation fuel needs.

The DAWN project, started in 2022, uses concentrated solar radiation to produce synthetic fuels. This is achieved through ultra-thin, curved, and movable mirrors called heliostats, along with a solar receiver positioned atop a tower. The heliostat design is optimized for generating high-temperature process heat. Fuels from DAWN will be used in flagship transport projects to highlight the role of sustainable fuels in the energy transition. By 2050, the EU requires 70% of aviation fuels to be CO2-neutral.

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