Draft:Tree Energy Solutions (TES)

Tree Energy Solutions (TES) is an energy company active in the development of large-scale green hydrogen and synthetic methane projects, known as electric natural gas (e‑NG). The company's model focuses on combining renewable hydrogen with captured carbon dioxide to create a carbon‑neutral synthetic gas compatible with existing natural gas infrastructure. TES develops projects and partnerships across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia to enable global trade in e‑fuels and decarbonize hard‑to‑electrify sectors.

History and structure

TES was founded in 2019 and became active in 2020–2021 with operations established in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, United States and Canada. The company's early development focused on developing projects to produce electric natural gas (e-NG) made from green hydrogen and CO2. e-NG, also called synthetic methane is chemically identical natural gas (CH4) and can be transported in existing infrastructure. Alongside e-NG production facilities, in 2021, TES initiated its first import terminal project at the Port of Wilhelmshaven to support Germany's increasing need of energy security and LNG supplies. The terminal can accommodate LNG imports and e-NG imports. The leadership team includes co-founder and CEO Marco Alverà, CFO Paul Smith, alongside co‑founders and co-chairmen of the board Marcel and Paul van Poecke.

Projects

In 2021, TES began developing its Green Energy Hub in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, later branded as Jade Energy, which will serve as a cornerstone of Germany's energy resilience and decarbonization strategy. The project responds to the country's growing LNG needs following the phase-out of coal, the replacement of Russian gas imports, and the government's plan to install up to 20 GW of new gas-fired power capacity to secure energy supply during the transition.

The site of Jade Energy covers approximately 145 hectares and brings multiple energy systems into one ecosystem designed to share power, heat, and CO₂ efficiently. It includes an LNG import terminal ready for natural gas today and designed to transition fully to electric natural gas (e-NG); a CO₂ export terminal that collects and ships captured carbon for storage or reuse; and a gas-fired power plant that supplies reliable electricity and waste heat to the site while remaining convertible to hydrogen or e-NG. Complementing these are a data center powered by renewable and recovered energy, and large-scale hydrogen units, an electrolyzer and an autothermal reformer, producing green and low-carbon hydrogen and e-fuels using renewable power and captured CO₂.

The terminal is designed to begin operations near the end of the decade with an initial capacity of 15 billion cubic metres per year, expandable to 20 billion cubic metres. In 2024, the company announced the acceleration of construction of the CO₂ export terminal, followed by an engineering study with Ramboll in 2025 targeting a long‑term capacity of 10 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Excelsior was commissioned at Wilhelmshaven in May 2025 under Germany's LNG Acceleration Programme as an interim facility until the full onshore terminal becomes operational.

In Canada, TES Canada is developing Projet Mauricie, a large scale renewable hydrogen project located in Shawinigan and the wider Mauricie region. This project will use a combination of baseload hydroelectricity, and 1 GW of wind and solar power, behind the fence, self-production, to feed an electrolyzer. The project will produce approximately 70,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030. A third of the hydrogen will serve to decarbonize heavy mobility applications, while the remaining part will be converted into synthetic natural gas for injection into the provincial gas grid. Commissioning is targeted for the late 2020s, subject to permitting and grid connection.

In the United States, TES and Total Energies are developing the Live Oak project, a large‑scale e‑NG production unit. The facility is designed to produce between 100,000 and 200,000 tonnes of e‑NG annually using a 500MW electrolyser powered by roughly one gigawatt of renewable electricity, with development options under study in the United States.

In Finland, TES and CPC Finland established Luoto Energia Oy to develop a 500‑megawatt e‑NG project at the Port of Rauma. The project aims to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of hydrogen each year, to be converted into more than 125,000 tonnes of e‑NG using biogenic carbon dioxide from Finnish emitters. The site, within the Iso Järviluoto harbour extension, is advancing technical planning and environmental assessment ahead of a final investment decision.

In Azerbaijan, the company entered into a joint study agreement with the national oil and gas company SOCAR to evaluate the production of e‑NG and potential export to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor, covering technical feasibility and market analysis.

In Oman, a joint study agreement with OQ Alternative Energy examines large‑scale e‑NG production aligned with the country's target to exceed one million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030 and leveraging existing gas export infrastructure.

In the United Arab Emirates, a strategic collaboration and joint study agreement with ADNOC was signed during COP28 in 2023 to assess the development of an e‑NG project and integration with the UAE's gas export network.

In Japan, the company established a local branch and signed cooperation agreements with K Line, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, Toho Gas, Itochu, and Saibu Gas to explore maritime transport solutions and commercial offtake structures for e‑NG and other e‑fuels across Asia, North America, and Europe.

Financing and alliances

The company completed a €65 million fundraising round in 2022 to advance European hydrogen infrastructure.

In 2022, Fortescue became a shareholder in TES for €30m, as well as investing €100m in TES's flagship project, the Wilhelmshaven Green Energy Hub on Germany's northwest coast.

In 2024, following strong investor interest, the company increased the round to €140 million, with substantial participation from existing shareholders including AtlasInvest, Reggeborgh, Zhero, and Zodiac Maritime.

In 2024 the company founded the electric natural gas (e‑NG) Coalition with Mitsubishi Corporation, TotalEnergies, Engie, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, Toho Gas, and to promote standards and certification frameworks worldwide.