Shipping giant Maersk and the Spanish government unveiled on Thursday a vast 10 billion euro project to develop the production of “green methanol” in Spain, to be used as fuel for the Danish group’s fleet.
This project, currently in the study and development phase, “plans to mobilize, with the participation of private partners, nearly 10 billion euros of investment,” said the Spanish government in a statement.
It should result in the creation of two large production sites of green methanol, located for one in Andalusia (south), and for the other in Galicia (north-west), with the creation of “85,000 direct and indirect jobs”, he added.
This initiative, whose broad outlines were the subject of a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday between the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the CEO of Maersk Søren Skou, could benefit according to Madrid of public funding, including through the European recovery fund post-Covid.
According to the Danish group, world leader in container shipping, the goal is to produce “two million tons” of green methanol per year, as part of the multinational’s efforts to decarbonize its fleet of ships.
Based on projections, “Maersk needs about six million tons of green methanol per year” to meet its CO2 emissions reduction target by 2030, and “even larger amounts by 2040” for its fleet to achieve carbon neutrality, the group says.
Earlier this year, the Danish shipowner unveiled a vast strategic plan to decarbonize its fleet by gradually abandoning the use of diesel, in order to meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets set by the European Union.
The plan is to use green methanol, which the group intends to produce in-house due to the lack of existing supply on the market, at five or six sites around the world. In addition to Spain, Maersk intends to develop its production in Egypt.
Green methanol, also known as “e-methanol,” is produced by mixing carbon dioxide (CO2) and green hydrogen, produced by breaking down water molecules using an electric current – so-called “water electrolysis” – with renewable energy sources.
