Chinese clean energy and recycling company China Tianying is on track to commission one of the world’s largest synthetic methanol production plants in 2025 after agreeing a major technology licensing and supply deal with Icelandic firm Carbon Recycling International (CRI).

The project, sited in the city of Liaoyuan in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin, is designed to have a first-phase production capacity of 170,000t/yr. It will use CRI’s ETL technology to produce synthetic methanol from green hydrogen and captured biogenic CO₂, with the flexibility to operate in line with fluctuating wind energy input. The project is the third commercial-scale plant to use CRI’s technology in China.

“This agreement underscores our strong commitment to innovation and sustainability,” said Dan Han, deputy general engineer of Tianying. “The production of green methanol will play a crucial role in decarbonizing the chemical and fuel industries, and we are proud to lead the way.”

Lotte Rosenberg, CEO of CRI, said the project would “set a new standard for what is possible in green chemical production”.

Use of green hydrogen to produce synthetic methanol, usually for use a maritime fuel, is a growing area but the global project pipeline is small relative to other hydrogen-based fuel sectors such as green ammonia.

“The number of projects targeting the production of synthetic methanol, as a feedstock or fuel, is much lower (than ammonia), equivalent to 5mt/yr methanol by 2030, or almost 4% of global methanol production today,” the IEA said in its recent Global Hydrogen Review 2024.

The growth of the synthetic methanol sector has slowed as it faces growing competition from LNG in the maritime fuels markets, as well as pushback from offtakers unwilling to pay a green premium, German utility Uniper said at the recent World Hydrogen Congress in Copenhagen.

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Author: Stuart Penson