Decarbonisation Technology August 2025 Issue

teams, de-risk the critical first period of live operation, known as a hotspot for unplanned downtime and performance deviations. Exact execution is initially an engineering requirement and ultimately a bankability threshold. It is how stakeholders gain confidence in emissions guarantees, fuel purity specs, heat recovery systems, and system responsiveness. Without it, even the most elegant process design may never reach nameplate performance. As the industry transitions from pilots to scaled rollouts, flawless execution must evolve into a core discipline. It must be embedded into design logic, focus on commissioning and start-up, feed into operability reviews, and shape the very way modular systems are constructed. Because ultimately, it is not just technology maturity that drives success, it is also delivery maturity. And that begins with precise execution. Conclusion: from molecules to markets, by design and delivery The decarbonisation challenge is moving from design to execution, bridging ambition with engineered reality. Innovation is essential for the energy transition, as is project design and delivery. Engineurs has seen that the vision can become a reality through its work spanning flue gas carbon capture in Abu Dhabi, e-fuels integration in Europe, and renewable energy conversion in Asia. From CCUS to waste-to-X, the company has witnessed that emerging technologies can be delivered safely, at scale, and with real-world impact. Successful delivery is reliant on engineering capability, commercial alignment, and collaborative execution – from concept through to handover and ongoing operations to ensure projects perform under real-world conditions.

performance validation, which, in turn, de-risks scale-up and supports investor confidence. Decarbonisation must be treated as a whole-system challenge – one that demands collaboration across value chains and sectors. Only by integrating capture, conversion, and delivery can we unlock the infrastructure that transforms climate ambition into commercial reality and competitive advantage. Why flawless execution is non-negotiable Despite decades of lessons learned, more than 60% of major capital projects still run late, exceed budget, or underperform at start-up. In complex, multi-technology systems like CCUS and e-fuels, where integration risk is high and margins for error are narrow, the execution phase can make or break commercial viability. Successful commissioning and start-up are not the end of the project. It is only the start, but it is where engineering intent becomes real-world performance. In the case of modular CCUS systems or novel synthesis trains, the commissioning phase must account for dynamic ramp-up conditions, variable flue gas loads, hydrogen blending variability, and instrumentation tuning across unfamiliar process boundaries. To manage these complexities, commissioning and start-up must be structured, digitalised, and tightly integrated into project delivery from day one. We must build our approach around eliminating risk centred on three critical pillars: • Digital completion and commissioning management: Real-time progress tracking, live audit trails, and punch list management through completions management systems ensure transparency and control, reducing schedule drift and interface failure. • Structured readiness and performance logic: Every milestone – from mechanical completion through systems handover and into performance verification – must follow a rigorously defined readiness framework. This ensures that control systems, utilities, safety interlocks, and dynamic response scenarios are tested under real operating conditions, not just simulated. • Soft landings and operational continuity : Post-handover support, including remote operations, mirrored distributed control system (DCS) environments, and embedded start-up

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Richard Freeman RFreeman@engineurs.com Amna Bezanty ABezanty@engineurs.com Alex Howard AHoward@engineurs.com