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Nitrogen+Syngas 396 Jul-Aug 2025

21 July 2025

Plans for biogenic methanol plant

Three European energy companies are planning to develop a green methanol plant in Spain that will capture around 380,000 t/a of biogenic carbon dioxide, which will be used to produce 200,000 t/a of methanol. Spanish renewable energy firm Magnon will oversee the carbon capture portion of the project, while partners Power2X and ErasmoPower2X will handle the hydrogen supply. Part of this will see ErasmoPower2X supplying green hydrogen from its facilities in nearby Saceruela. The project will be located at Magnon’s industrial complex in Puertollano, Ciudad Real, where the carbon capture technology will be fitted into its existing biomass plant.

“This initiative … will decarbonise various Spanish industries [such as] steel, automotive, refineries, and aviation,” said Niels van Buuren, EVP of Business Development at Power2X.

Spain has been scaling up its green hydrogen production capacity in recent years, positioning itself as a southern European hub for renewable hydrogen and its derivatives. The country has more than 20 low carbon methanol or power-to-liquid fuel projects at various stages of development, many of them clustered around industrial regions like Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha. This momentum reflects broader European decarbonisation goals, including the latest Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), which sets binding targets for renewable fuels of non-biological origin in transport and industry. Additional frameworks such as the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the RePowerEU plan further incentivise member states to support synthetic fuel production as part of the bloc’s push to phase out fossil fuels.

Latest in Europe

Equinor backs out of blue hydrogen project

Norwegian oil and gas major Equinor says that it is no longer pursuing its planned H2M Eemshaven blue hydrogen project in the Netherlands, citing policy uncertainty and insufficient funding. The project was a joint venture between Equinor and Linde, and would have produced hydrogen from natural gas piped from Norway, with a capacity of 210,000 t/a of hydrogen beginning in 2029. Around 95% of the carbon dioxide produced would then be piped back to offshore storage sites near the Norwegian coast. Equinor had received a grant of €162 million for the project from the European Innovation Fund last summer. However, uncertainties over whether the project would receive carbon credits under the EU’s RED III directive, and a lack of local hydrogen infrastructure at Eemshaven meant that the project was unable to secure offtake agreements.

Avalon seeking permits for hydrogen plant

Avalon Renovables says that it has begun the administrative process to obtain environmental permits for the company’s planned Arquillo green hydrogen plant at Jerez de la Frontera. The plant is one of eight green hydrogen plans planned as part of the Bays of Algeciras and Cádiz Project (PBAC), with pipeline tie-ins to the future green ammonia plant in Campo de Gibraltar. The plant will include a 47 MW solar voltaic power plant called Arquillo, feeding 35 MW of electrolysis capacity, with an estimated output of 4,900 t/a of hydrogen.

Cancellation for green ammonia project

Hy2Gen has been forced to end plans for a green ammonia plant in Norway, following the withdrawal of an electricity supply agreement by the main energy provider. Iverson eFuels, co-owned by Hy2Gen and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, had been planning to build a 200,000 t/a green ammonia plant at Birkeland in Sauda, using 240 MW of electrolysis capacity. However, the plant’s operational schedule has been pushed back from an original launch date of 2027 to 2031, prompting Norwegian electrical grid operator Statnett to withdraw the 270 MW of previously allocated grid capacity at the end of December, saying that it could only offer the extra capacity once upgrades to the grid had been completed in the period 2033-35. Following several weeks of discussions, Iverson eFuels said in a statement that: “such an unresolved situation related to the completion of new network capacity is not compatible with further development of the project. On this basis, Iverson has decided to terminate the project concerning green ammonia production in Sauda. The company regrets the decision, thanks its partners, and will now consider the possibility of establishing a data centre to create new activity in Sauda.”