The Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network (SPIN) continues to grow. With Catalyst Intelligence, a catalyst consultancy based in Luxembourg joining the network, SPIN gains an additional partner at the intersection of catalysts, chemical processes, energy innovation, and project development.
Catalyst Intelligence was founded in 2016 and brings together senior catalyst experts from traditional oil companies and catalyst companies. The specialists conduct projects around the world for individual oil refiners, catalyst producers, as well as financial investors with an interest in the catalyst space. Over the past few years, Catalyst Intelligence, has also become involved in Power-to-X projects, and here they contribute their expertise in catalyst R&D, catalyst performance testing, catalyst manufacturing, and business development.
As the global energy system evolves, Power-to-X technologies are becoming increasingly important. They enable the conversion of intermittent, and sometimes abundant but stranded, renewable electricity (remote locations) into synthetic fuels, and chemicals, which are easy to store and distribute — helping to defossilise sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation, shipping, and heavy industry.
Catalysts play a crucial role in any Power-to-X process
Any chemical process to produce synthetic fuels and chemicals from CO2, N2, and H2O using green electricity as the energy source, requires catalysts. Catalysts need to exhibit the required activity, selectivity and stability to make the process viable both technically as well as economically. As is well-understood, Power-to-X is not only about technology, it is also about systems integration, market design, and investment decisions. This is where companies like Catalyst Intelligence with extensive experience in traditional oil refining can contribute.
By providing data-driven insights, strategic analysis, and decision support, such actors help stakeholders better understand:
- where Power-to-X solutions are most effective
- how regulatory frameworks impact deployment
- which business models are scalable
- how investments can be de-risked
In a rapidly changing policy and market environment, this type of intelligence becomes a critical success factor.
A growing ecosystem
SPIN’s role is to connect stakeholders across industry, academia, and policy. The addition of Catalyst Intelligence reflects the increasing importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Power-to-X requires:
- technological innovation
- supportive regulation
- viable financing structures
- and reliable data
By bringing together diverse competencies, SPIN helps accelerate the development and deployment of synthetic fuels and other Power-to-X solutions.
Looking ahead
The integration of analytical and strategic expertise into the network strengthens SPIN’s ability to contribute to a technology-neutral, defossilised energy system.
As more organisations join forces, the Power-to-X ecosystem continues to mature — creating new opportunities for innovation, investment, and impact.
At the same time, many planned projects still do not reach a final investment decision (FID). One of the key reasons is ongoing regulatory uncertainty, which is partly driven by strong lobbying against eFuels. This creates hesitation among investors, delays project development, and ultimately slows down the deployment of scalable solutions — holding back effective climate action.