Renewable fuel arrives at the construction site
The cleantech company Synhelion has refuelled an excavator with its renewable diesel for the first time. The heavy construction machine, owned by Eberhard Bau AG, is in use at the Brütten Tunnel construction site near Bassersdorf, Zurich, and is reportedly running smoothly there.
Synhelion has now demonstrated that its renewable fuel is suitable for use in heavy construction machinery. The cleantech company has refuelled an excavator belonging to Eberhard Bau AG of Kloten with its synthetic solar diesel at the Brütten Tunnel construction site near Bassersdorf.
“Our staff work with heavy construction machinery under demanding conditions,” says logistics manager Silvan Eberhard in a statement from Synhelion. “What matters is that performance and reliability are up to scratch. This first use of Synhelion’s diesel shows that renewable fuels also work seamlessly in everyday construction site operations.” Synhelion’s renewable diesel delivers the same performance as conventional diesel and reduces net CO2 emissions by up to 100 per cent. It can be used in existing engines without any technical modifications.
Heavy construction equipment is difficult to electrify, which is why machinery in the construction and infrastructure sectors “will continue to rely on liquid fuels for a long time to come,” according to Synhelion co-founder and co-CEO Philipp Furler. “To make a real contribution to net-zero emissions, it is now crucial that we scale up our technology to reduce production costs.”
The diesel for this excavator comes from DAWN, the world’s first industrial plant for the production of Synhelion’s solar fuel at the German Research Centre Jülich. All the innovations of the company, founded in 2016 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, are integrated there. With this demonstration plant, which went into operation in 2024, Synhelion has validated its technology on an industrial scale, thereby demonstrating its readiness for large-scale deployment. RISE, Synhelion’s first commercial production plant, has been under construction in Spain since 2025 and is scheduled to start producing fuel from 2027.
Synhelion already signed a long-term supply agreement with Eberhard Bau AG in February 2026. From 2027, Eberhard will purchase renewable diesel to reduce the CO2 emissions of its construction machinery. Synhelion has already demonstrated the viability of renewable kerosene, diesel and petrol for use in air, sea and road transport.