Liquid Wind plans another e-methanol plant in Finland

Swedish e-fuel company Liquid Wind will develop another 100,000 mt/year e-methanol production plant in Finland.

PHOTO: TSE's waste incineration plant in Naantali, Finland. Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto

The fuel produced will primarily be supplied to the shipping and aviation sectors, Liquid Wind said.

E-methanol, or synthetic methanol, is produced using 100% biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) and green hydrogen. The biogenic CO2 is typically captured through either bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or direct air capture (DAC). This fuel is virtually free of greenhouse gases and can be used as a drop-in fuel with grey methanol or on its own.

Liquid Wind has partnered with Finnish power utility company Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto (TSE) to set up renewable electricity input to power the e-methanol and green hydrogen production.

The plant will be built in Naantali, Finland next to TSE’s biomass-fired cogeneration power plant. A biomass-fired cogeneration plant uses organic bio-waste like wood chips and agricultural residues to generate electricity and heat.

Approximately 160,000 mt/year of biogenic CO2 emitted from this plant will be captured to produce 100,000 mt/year of e-methanol.

The final investment decision for the plant is planned for next year, with commercial operations expected to begin in 2029.

This is Liquid Wind’s second planned e-methanol plant in Finland and its fourth in the Nordic region. The company has conceptualised modular e-methanol production facilities, which are ready-to-build units with a nominal production capacity of 100,000 mt/year each.

The Swedish developer plans to build 80 modular e-methanol plants in the Nordic region by 2030. Collectively, these 80 plants are expected to produce 8 million mt/year of e-methanol for the shipping industry. The company also teamed up with Samsung Engineering to explore establishing e-methanol plants in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

By Konica Bhatt

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