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Nitrogen+Syngas 397 Sep-Oct 2025

15 September 2025

Alliance for green energy projects

Alliance for green energy projects

Clariant has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Boiler Works, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric which specialises in energy conversion and the development of new energy applications, to jointly foster innovation in sustainable energy solutions. The partners say that they will combine their expertise to advance green energy projects in China.

Clairant says that the agreement is the result of close and successful cooperation in Shanghai Electric’s new biomass-to-green methanol plant in Taonan, Jilin Province. In addition to supplying catalysts, Clariant provided technical on-site support during the successful startup of the 50,000 t/a plant. The second phase of the project, with a capacity of 200,000 t/a green methanol and 10,000 t/a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), is expected to start production in 2027.

Georg Anfang, Vice President at Clariant, commented: “We are proud to add China’s first biomass to green methanol plant in Taonan to a strong series of facilities that are already producing green methanol with our high-performance MegaMax catalysts. As China is becoming one of the frontrunners in the energy transition, our strategic alliance with Shanghai Electric will further strengthen Clariant´s footprint as a key enabler to produce clean energy, chemicals, and fuels.”

Shanghai Electric’s biomass to methanol plant.
PHOTO: CLARIANT

Qiu Jiayou, Vice President at Shanghai Electric, added, “We are proud of the successful launch of our new project and are equally delighted about our strategic agreement with Clariant, a company which understands and shares our vision for the future. Our teams look forward to joining forces to develop exceptional, sustainable energy solutions for customers around the globe.”

The strategic cooperation agreement will combine Shanghai Electric’s process competence and plant design capabilities with Clariant’s catalyst expertise. The scope of the agreement includes collaborative research and development, engineering design services, supply of chemical equipment, and turnkey solutions. Clariant will share its extensive knowledge and advanced catalysts for producing green methanol, e-methanol, green ammonia, and sustainable aviation fuel, as well as for gas purification.

Latest in Asia

Methanol from biomass

Chinese electrolyser manufacturer LONGi Green Energy has begun construction on a $325 million green methanol project in Inner Mongolia that will combine biomass gasification with hydrogen from the company’s electrolysers. The project, being developed at the Urad Rear Banner Industrial Park, will process 600,000 t/a of agricultural waste to produce 190,000 t/a of green methanol in the first phase. Phase 2 will expand ethanol capacity to 400,000 t/a, with hydrogen coming from new electrolysers powered by 850 MW of wind and 200 MW of solar power. LONGi says that the project will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million t/a, while adding more than 1 GW of wind and solar capacity to the region’s energy mix.

Casale wins melamine contract

Casale has been awarded a contract to supply melamine technology by Anhui Haoyuan Chemical Group. The new melamine plant will feature Casale’s uLEM-N technology, with a design capacity of 60,000 t/a, and will be fully integrated into an urea plant operated by Anhui Haoyuan. This is the third project that the two companies have developed together, following the successful implementation of two 1,500 t/a ammonia synthesis loop plants based on Casale’s N-LOOP™ technology.

Joint venture for green ammonia project

L&T Energy GreenTech Ltd (LTEG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has entered into a joint development agreement with Japan’s Itochu Corporation of Japan to develop and commercialise a 300,000 t/a green ammonia project at Kandla in Gujarat state. Under the agreement, LTEG and Itochu will collaborate on the development of the green ammonia facility, with Itochu planning to offtake the product for bunkering applications in Singapore.

Ammonia-urea plan for Chechnya

The Chechen Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade is reportedly in discussions with Chinese company Wuhuan over the construction of a mew nitrogen fertilizer plant in the region. Wuhuan is being considered as a potential EPC contractor, with technology and design coming from Russian design agency JSC GIAP. A site in the republic’s Naursky district has been earmarked for the project, which aims to produce 1,700 t/dm of ammonia and 3,000 t/d of urea. Development and construction is expected to take five years, with plant startup currently scheduled for the first half of 2030. The total cost of the project is estimated at $2.4 billion.