Ireland-based ET Fuels is advancing development of three e-methanol facilities in the US, Spain and Finland that could each make 120,000 t/yr, primarily for the shipping sector, its chief executive Lara Naqushbandi told Argus on the sidelines of the World Hydrogen Week in Copenhagen.
Each facility would utilise 220MW of electrolyser capacity and be powered by renewable electricity.
Output will be primarily targeted at the shipping sector, but since e-methanol is a "versatile" fuel it could also serve chemical industries or be converted into synthetic sustainable aviation fuels (e-SAF), Naqushbandi said.
ET Fuels is developing projects in an off-grid model, which allows for power prices between $25-35/MWh in these locations, enabling production costs to be more than 40pc lower than for grid-connected projects, according to the company.
The US plant, which will be located in Texas, is the most advanced of the three, Naqushbandi said. ET Fuels expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) for the plant in 2026 and production to begin in 2029. The Spanish plant, in Castilla La-Mancha, should follow with expected FID in 2027 and start of production in 2030. The project received a €15mn ($16.5mn) grant from the Spanish government in January.
The Finnish plant would be set up in northern Lapland and could benefit from high wind speeds, ET Fuels has said.
ET Fuels is considering other locations in the three countries, with seven additional projects in earlier planning stages. If all of these are completed, the firm's e-methanol production could reach 1.4mn t/yr, it has said.
