Upcoming e-methanol plant in Finland to power shipping

Total Eren and Aliceco Energy to build up to 400,000 mt/year e-methanol production plant in Finland to meet shipping demand.

PHOTO: Aerial view of Kokkola inorganic chemical industry park in Finland. Kokkola Industrial Park

TEH2, the hydrogen arm of Paris-based renewable energy producer Total Eren, is joining forces with Finnish green fuel producer Aliceco Energy to construct an e-methanol plant in Kokkola Industrial Park in Finland. Total Eren has been fully acquired by the French oil and gas major TotalEnergies as of 25 July.

Production at the new facility is scheduled to commence in 2029, and part of its 400,000 mt/year e-methanol output will be used for industrial purposes.

E-methanol, or synthetic methanol, is produced from 100% biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) that is typically captured through either bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or through direct air capture (DAC). This CO2 is then reacted with green hydrogen using a catalyst.

The fuel is almost entirely free from greenhouse gas (GHG) and can help reduce a vessel's CO2 emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional marine fuels on a well-to-wake basis.

The project, called Vanadis Fuels Project, will produce e-methanol from biogenic CO2 captured from Finnish energy supplier Kokkola Energia's biomass boilers.

The facility will use Aliceco Energy's carbon capture technology that uses oxygen combustion method. Oxygen combustion can typically capture nearly 100% of the CO2 emissions from biogas.

According to the companies, this technology uses biogas "to concentrate, capture, and condition" biogenic CO2 without using chemicals like other conventional technologies. Total Eren will be responsible for the production of green hydrogen as well as the operation of solar projects and wind farms to power the plant's electrolysers.

By Konica Bhatt

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