The Week in Alternative Fuels
It was all about the supply side of alternative fuels this week. Here are some key developments from the past week.
PHOTO: The tugboat Korimul in the Port of Burnie in Tasmania. TasPorts
Growing demand for renewable marine fuels underscores the need to ramp up production and availability, and nations and companies are paying attention. This week, virtually all zero- and low-carbon marine fuels were in the spotlight - green hydrogen, green methanol, green ammonia and biofuels.
A green hydrogen and methanol production facility will be built in Bell Bay, Tasmania by Spanish renewable energy firm Iberdrola and Australian hydrogen firm ABEL Energy. It was decided to begin production at 200,000 mt/year of green methanol, with the goal of scaling that up to 300,000 mt/year.
Danish methanol producer Topsoe joined the FlagshipONE project to build the world's biggest e-fuels plant in Sweden's Örnsköldsvik. FlagshipONE aims to produce 50,000 mt/year of green methanol by 2025 and Topsoe will supply its e-methanol loop technology along with other engineering support.
Spanish energy giant Repsol will build a biofuels plant in Cartagena, Spain. Repsol plans to process around 300,000 mt/year of biomass there to produce 250,000 mt/year of advanced biofuels - made from animal fats and non-edible vegetable oils.
A consortium of companies, led by oil supermajor Shell, will develop a supply chain for renewable hydrogen between the Port of Sines and Rotterdam by 2028. Besides Shell, the consortium comprises French utility firm ENGIE, Dutch terminal company Vopak and Rotterdam-based gas shipping company Anthony Veder.
NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) plans to build a green hydrogen mega-plant capable of producing green ammonia by 2026 in the futuristic city of NEOM in Saudi Arabia. The mega-plant will use 4 GW of solar and wind power to produce around 1.2 million mt/year of green ammonia.
By Konica Bhatt
Here is our selection of five top alternative fuels stories from this week:
Duo targets future shipping demand in plans to develop green methanol plants in Australia
Topsoe joins Gothenburg, Ørsted to develop Europe's biggest green e-methanol plant
Repsol gets EIB grant to develop biofuels facility in Spain
Consortium agrees to set up green hydrogen supply chain between Portugal and the Netherlands
