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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.

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SRU commissioned at Petrobrazi refinery

Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom has commissioned a new sulphur recovery unit at its Petrobrazi refinery, near the southern city of Ploiesti. Development work on the new SRU began in 2023, and represents the second at the site, treating acid gas produced during the refining process. The euro 45 million investment is part of euro 2 billion of improvements that have been made over the past 20 years as part of the company’s strategy to modernise its refining capabilities, aiming to reduce environmental impact. Last year, the company said it would invest around euro 750 million to build several sustainable fuel plants at the refinery, which are expected to become operational in 2028.

DOMO files for insolvency

Three German subsidiaries of the Belgian chemical group DOMO Chemicals have filed for insolvency, following weak demand in the European chemicals sector, high energy costs and a significant increase in imports of polyamide resins from outside the European Union, in particular from China. Court appointed administrator Prof. Lucas F. Flöther said that day-to-day operations would continue for the time being. Around 585 employees are affected across the three companies; DOMO Chemicals GmbH and DOMO Caproleuna GmbH in Leuna and DOMO Engineering Plastics GmbH in Premnitz.

Clariant catalysts selected for waste-to-methanol plant

Clariant says it is collaborating in Repsol’s pioneering methanol plant in El Morell near Tarragona, Spain. The Ecoplanta project will be the first of its kind in Europe to convert municipal waste into renewable methanol, using Enerkem’s advanced waste gasification process, supported by a range of Clariant’s syngas purification catalysts and its highly active MegaMax methanol synthesis catalysts. Scheduled for completion in 2029, the plant will use 400,000 t/a of non-recyclable solid municipal waste to produce 240,000 t/a of methanol.