Cepsa, owned by Mubadala and Carlyle, and C2X, an independent company majority owned by A.P. Moller Holding with A.P. Moller-Maersk as minority owner, announce a joint ambition to develop a green methanol plant in the port of Huelva, southern Spain.
Green methanol is made by using green hydrogen and non-fossil sources of carbon captured from the atmosphere or from agricultural and forestry waste and can replace fossil methanol, reducing carbon emissions in hard-to-abate industries such as long-distance shipping and other industries such as chemicals and plastics
The project’s aim is to reach an estimated annual production capacity of 3,00,000 tons of green methanol, which Cepsa calculates would prevent the emission of up to one million tons of CO2. The plant would have the capacity to reach a maximum production of 3,80,000 tons. A final investment decision for this project, which would entail an investment of up to €1 billion, is expected to be made in 2025.
As per the press release, if approved, the project has the capacity to achieve green hydrogen production capacity of 2GW by 2030. Some of the green hydrogen produced will supply the new green methanol facility.
Cepsa CEO Maarten Wetselaar said, “This partnership is another milestone in our strategy to make Spain a European hub for green molecules this decade, with viable projects to reduce emissions in sectors that are difficult and urgent to decarbonize. We will work with the Spanish government to develop the regulatory framework needed for this project to be successful and scalable”.
C2X CEO Brian Davis added, “We see a growing demand for green methanol to help industries like shipping, aviation and chemicals move away from fossil-carbon based alternatives. While this project has strong fundamentals it will need an enabling framework in order to offer a competitive source of green methanol to its target customers. We look forward to working with Cepsa and the Spanish government as we develop the project”.
