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Sweden’s Liquid Wind eyes third e-methanol plant

  • Spanish Market: E-fuels, Emissions, Hydrogen
  • 23/01/23

Swedish e-fuels developer up Liquid Wind is planning a 100,000t/yr e-methanol facility in the Vasterbotten region of northern Sweden. It is scheduled to start production in 2026.

Liquid Wind agreed to locate the methanol facility next to a cogeneration power plant owned by local utility Umea Energi which burns biomass and biofuels to make heat and power. The deal benefits both parties as the project will capture 230,000t/yr CO2 emissions from the existing plant, which can be used as feedstock for synthesis of the methanol. The project could trim CO2 emissions in the Umea municipality by 40pc, Umea Energi said. The methanol production will also result in surplus heat which can be used for district heating.

The partners carried out a feasibility study which confirmed good conditions for e-methanol production and the next steps are in-depth investigations and permitting, they said. The developers aim to take a final investment decision by next year.

The project plans to supply methanol to the shipping industry and displacement of fossil fuels will avert 150,000t/yr CO2, Umea Energi said.

The plant at Dava in Umea is the third e-methanol project which Liquid Wind has planned in Sweden, after its 50,000t/yr FlagshipONE project at Ornkoldsvik which was acquired by Orsted and 100,000t/yr FlagshipTWO at Sundsvall. Liquid Wind aims to develop ten e-methanol facilities by 2030. It raised €15.2mn in October 2022.

Liquid Wind has not confirmed electrolysis capacity at the new plant, but it could be 140MW, as the company is planning to produce twice as much e-methanol as the Ornkoldsvik project which has 70MW.

Copyright © 2023 Argus Media group
RegionCountryLocationProject nameProduction target (t/yr)Electrolyser size in MWStatusPlanned or actual start-upOperator/developer
OceaniaAustraliaTasmania_-* 60,000Planned2023ABEL, Thyssenkrupp
EuropeBelgiumAntwerpPower-to-Methanol Antwerp_-* 8,000Planned2022Engie, Port of Antwerp
EuropeBelgiumEast FlandersNorth-C-Methanol_-* 44,000Planned2024Proman, Engie
North AmericaCanadaBritish Columbia_-* 120,000PlannedRH2C Renewable Hydrogen Canada
North AmericaCanadaAlbertaIn operation2020Air Company
North AmericaCanadaQuebecBoyen_-* 70,000Planned2026Hy2Gen
South AmericaChile_-* 140,000Planned2025Andes Mining and Energy
South AmericaChileAntofagastaAntofagasta Mining Energy Renewable _-* 60,000PlannedAir Liquide
South AmericaChile_-* 150,000Planned2025HIF
AsiaChinaJiangsuJiangsu Sailboat Green Methanol_-* 100,000Planned2023CRI, Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemicals
AsiaChina_-* 100,000PlannedSinocoal, Energy and Chemical Co
AsiaChinaLiaoning_-* 1,000In operation2020Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics
AsiaChinaHenan_-* 110,000In operation2022CRI, Shunli
EuropeDenmarkCopenhagenGreen Fuels For Denmark_-* 50,000Planned2023Orsted, Maersk, SAS Copenhagen Airports
EuropeDenmarkMidtjylland_-* 16,000Planned2023ReIntegrate
EuropeDenmarkSyddanmark_-* 32,000PlannedEuropean Energy
EuropeDenmarkNordjylland_-* 75,000Planned2025European Energy, Port of Aalborg
EuropeDenmarkNordjyllandPlannedEuropean Energy, Port of Hanstholm
AfricaEgyptSuez Canal Economic Zone_-* 100,000Planned2026Masdar, Hassan Allam
EuropeFranceIsereHynovi_-* 200,000Planned2025Hynamics, Vycat
EuropeFranceBouches-du-RhoneHynovera_-* 100,00085-120Planned2030Hy2Gen
EuropeGermanyBavariaRhyme_-* 15,000Planned2024Wacker Chemie, Linde
EuropeGermanySaxonyJangada_-* 61,000Planned2026Hy2Gen
EuropeGermanySaxony-Anhalte-CONMetPlannedTotalEnergies, Sunfire
EuropeGermanyHamburg_-* 200,000PlannedDow Chemical
EuropeGermanySchleswig-HolsteinHySCALE100Planned2026EDF Hynamics, Orsted, Halcim
EuropeGermanyLower SaxonyPlanned2026Friesoythe
EuropeIcelandReykjanesGeorge Olah_-* 4,000In operation2011Carbon Recycling International (CRI)
AsiaIndiaGujarat_-* 27,000PlannedNTPC Renewable Energy, GACL
EuropeItalyTuscany_-* 125,000PlannedAlia Servizi Ambientali
EuropeNetherlandsGroningenPlannedNouryon, Gasunie, BioMCN
EuropeNorwayTroms and FinnmarkFinnfjord E-methanol plant_-* 100,000Planned2025Finnfjord, Statkraft, CRI
EuropeNorway NordlandMo Industrial ParkPlannedSwiss Liquid Future, Elkem, Thyssenkrupp, e-Fuels2go
EuropeScotlandHighlandCromarty Clean Fuels ProjectPlannedProman, Global Energy Group
AsiaSingaporeSingapore_-* 50,000Planned2024Air Liquide, PTT Exploration & Production, YTL PowerSaya, Kenoil, Maersk, YTL PowerSaya
AfricaSouth AfricaEastern Cape_-* 120,000Planned2027Earth and Wire, Enertrag, 24 Solutions
EuropeSpainGaliciaGreen UMIA_-* 2,900Planned2025Iberdrola, Foresa
EuropeSwedenVastra GotalandProject Air_-* 200,000Planned2026Perstorp
EuropeSwedenVasternorrlandFlagshipONE_-* 50,000Planned2024Liquid Wind, Haldor, Nel, Orsted
EuropeSwedenVasternorrlandFlagshipTWO_-* 100,000Planned2024Liquid Wind, Haldor, Nel
EuropeSwedenVasterbottenDava e-methanol plant_-* 100,000Planned2026Liquid Wind, Umea Energi
North AmericaUSAIn operationAir Company

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13/05/25

Australia’s Macquarie unwinds coking coal funding ban

Australia’s Macquarie unwinds coking coal funding ban

Sydney, 13 May (Argus) — Australian investment bank Macquarie has changed its investment rules to fund coking coal mines, in a partial reversal of its 2021 coal financing ban. The bank made the change in November 2024, it said in its annual report for the year ended 31 March, released last week. It will now make short-term funding deals lasting less than 12 months for coking coal developments, to help producers buy, expand, or run coking coal mines. Macquarie's rule change still bans long-term investments in coking coal projects. There are few viable alternatives to coking coal for the steel and industrial sectors, Macquarie said. The company has maintained its ban on thermal coal financing, apart from specific emissions reduction projects. It is also working on supporting emissions reduction projects in the Australian oil and gas sectors, although it did not disclose which projects. Macquarie is not the only bank moving away from fossil fuel financing. Australian bank ANZ will stop lending capital to companies heavily involved in the thermal coal sector by 2030. It reduced its lending to thermal coal mining firms by 85pc between 2015 and July 2024,it said in July last year. It also stopped [funding new upstream oil and gas projects](https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2566501), with limited exceptions, in May 2024. Macquarie has expanded its climate finance role over recent years. The bank set up a renewable energy business to fund utility-scale projects in Australia and New Zealand in November 2023. Macquarie is also involved in carbon markets. The company is continuing to help clients with compliance and voluntary carbon markets, including in newer locations like China, the company said, without disclosing further details. It has also purchased and retired 59,164t of CO2 equivalent of Australian Carbon Credit Units and other voluntary offsets to cover business travel in its 2024-25 financial year ended 31 March. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Australian PM reaffirms climate priority in new cabinet


12/05/25
12/05/25

Australian PM reaffirms climate priority in new cabinet

Sydney, 12 May (Argus) — Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has reaffirmed renewable energy commitments with cabinet picks after the Labor party's election victory on 3 May. Chris Bowen, who led key changes to the safeguard mechanism , the capacity investment scheme (CIS) and fuel efficiency standards for new passenger and light commercial vehicles, remains minister for climate change and energy. Madeleine King, the minister for resources and northern Australia, retains her cabinet position, while Tanya Plibersek, previously the minister for environment, is now the minister for social services and is replaced by Murray Watt, formerly the minister for workplace relations. In the previous term, Plibersek failed to establish an environment protection authority and reform the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which was an election promise in 2022, after intervention from Western Australian state minister Roger Cook. Environmental lobby group the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has welcomed Watt, who was also the minister for agriculture for two years to 2024, into his new role. "Having a former agriculture minister in environment increases the opportunities for co-operation on the shared challenges facing nature protection and sustainable agriculture," the ACF said. The ACF also welcomed Chris Bowen in returning to his role as environment minister for his "clear mandate" to continue the energy transition. Josh Wilson remains assistant minister for climate change and energy. Participants in the renewable energy carbon credit industry are urging the new Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to speed up the creation of new Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) methods in the new government term. They are also seeking greater transparency in ACCU data base , which requires legislative change. And renewable energy companies and lobby groups will be closely following a review of Australia's National Electricity Market wholesale market settings , which will need to be changed following the conclusion of the CIS tenders in 2027 and as Australia transitions to more renewables from its ageing coal-fired plants. By Grace Dudley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

White House ends use of carbon cost


09/05/25
09/05/25

White House ends use of carbon cost

Washington, 9 May (Argus) — The US is ending its use of a metric for estimating the economic damages from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the latest reversal of climate change policies supported by President Donald Trump's predecessors. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week directed federal agencies to stop using the social cost of carbon as part of any regulatory or decision-making practices, except in cases where it is required by law, citing the need "remove any barriers put in place by previous administrations" that restrict the ability of the US to get the most benefit "from our abundant natural resources". "Under this guidance, the circumstances where agencies will need to engage in monetized greenhouse gas emission analysis will be few to none," OMB said in a 5 May memo to federal agencies. In cases where such an analysis is required by law, agencies should limit their work "to the minimum consideration required" and address only the domestic effects, unless required by law. OMB said these steps are needed to ensure sound regulatory decisions and avoid misleading the public because the uncertainties of such analyses "are too great". The budget office issued the guidance in response to an executive order Trump issued on his first day in office, which also disbanded an interagency working group on the social cost of carbon and called for faster permitting for domestic oil and gas production and the termination of various orders issued by former president Joe Biden related to combating climate change. The metric, first established by the administration of former US president Barack Obama, has been subject to a tug of war between Democrats and Republicans. Trump, in his first term, slashed the value of the social cost of carbon, a move Biden later reversed . Biden then directed agencies to fold the metric into their procurement processes and environmental reviews. The US began relying on the cost estimate in 2010, offering a way to estimate the full costs and benefits of climate-related regulations. The Biden administration estimated the global cost of emitting CO2 at $120-$340/metric tonne and included it in rules related to cars, trucks, residential appliances, ozone standards, methane emission rules, refineries and federal oil and gas leases. By Michael Ball Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Minister eyes German energy transition 'reality check'


09/05/25
09/05/25

Minister eyes German energy transition 'reality check'

London, 9 May (Argus) — Germany's energy transition needs a "reality check", the country's new energy minister Katherina Reiche has said, stating that the government will prioritise security of power supply over climate protection. The government must strike the right balance between climate protection, security of supply and costs, Reiche said at the Ludwig Erhard Summit earlier today, arguing that the focus in recent years has been disproportionately on the former. The new government will put security of supply "first", while also focusing on keeping system costs — such as redispatch and grid expansion costs, which previous governments "underestimated" — as low as possible. The government is aiming to "quickly" hold tenders for the construction of "at least" 20GW of new gas-fired capacity, Reiche said, citing the recent blackout in the Iberian peninsula as evidence that Germany cannot become complacent over its power supply. While she acknowledged that the reasons for the blackout are not yet fully determined, she said that a lack of inertia in the power system is likely to have contributed to it, and that more flexible gas-fired plants "could have helped" Spain avoid the blackout. She called for Germany to agree "long-term delivery contracts" for natural gas, to ensure security of supply in the coming years. And Reiche emphasised the importance of "technology openness", particularly when it comes to Germany reaching its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045. There may be new technologies that are yet to be invented or fully harnessed that could aid the country in fulfilling its goal, she noted. Hydrogen has the potential to play a role in a "mix" of other technologies in the energy transition, she said, but the expectations for it have become too high for a product that is "not even on the market". Reiche also called for more patience with regard to electrification in Germany, stating that "the transformation of an entire economy [to become climate friendly] in a linear, year-on-year path is not feasible". And the minister reiterated previous CDU/CSU-SPD coalition pledges to reduce the electricity tax and to introduce an industry power price. CDU party member Reiche became the new energy minister on Tuesday, when CDU leader Friedrich Merz was voted in as chancellor, replacing the SPD's Olaf Scholz. By John Horstmann Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Carbon credit method may limit Australia's ACCU supply


09/05/25
09/05/25

Carbon credit method may limit Australia's ACCU supply

Sydney, 9 May (Argus) — A potentially ineffective design of the long-delayed Integrated Farm and Land Management (IFLM) method developed by the Australian federal government might exclude thousands of landowners from the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) market, curbing potential supply, industry participants have warned. The IFLM method, the first in Australia to combine multiple activities that store carbon in soil and vegetation in a single method , could be potentially set with a "binary framework" classifying land types as either cleared or uncleared, following a recent update from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). But focusing on a single binary factor misses a broad range of other important influences, such as fire, over grazing, soil disturbance, feral animal impacts and climate events, co-chief executive of carbon project developer Climate Friendly, Skye Glenday, told Argus . It would particularly affect rangeland areas which cover around 70pc of Australia and include a large proportion of the Indigenous Estate, she added. The cleared/uncleared definition overlooks large areas of degraded land in Australia and is "not helpful" in understanding why the land is in that condition, carbon developer Australian Integrated Carbon (Ai Carbon) chief executive Adam Townley told delegates this week at lobby group Carbon Market Institute (CMI)'s Carbon Farming Industry Forum in New South Wales. A narrow definition of cleared and uncleared land effectively locks out large portions of the carbon market, decimating Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, Townley said. A CMI taskforce led by Glenday and Townley is recommending that the DCCEEW instead use the Vegetation Assets, States and Transitions (VAST) framework, which is already used by the Australian government to classify and report on the condition of native vegetation in its flagship State of Environment reports. This condition-based approach would allow developers to establish projects in large areas of existing native vegetation that are significantly degraded because of Australia's land-use history, but which still have forests and woodlands, according to the taskforce. The projects would then be able to restore health and increase carbon storage within these areas, the taskforce claims. Transition potential The right framework could incentivise between two-thirds and three-quarters of the registered land projects in eligible methods to transition to the future IFLM method, according to Glenday. Eligible methods would start with the key human-induced regeneration (HIR) ACCU method, which expired on 30 September 2023, as well as the Environmental Plantings (EP) and soil carbon methods. There are around 2,000 land-based projects registered, with about 400-500 in HIR, 50-100 in environmental plantings, and around 700 or more in soil. The number of projects that will transition will likely depend on the final transition rules and the package of activities each land manager wants to undertake, Glenday told Argus . Carbon developer Regenco will explore the potential of migrating all its HIR projects into the IFLM method, managing director and chief executive Greg Noonan told Argus on the sidelines of the CMI event. Transitioning to the new method would allow existing projects to have much larger land areas accountable for carbon sequestration, compared with around just 20pc on average under the HIR method, although decisions would depend on the additional ACCU generation potential for each project to compensate for migrating costs, Noonan said. Some developers said they will also consider transitioning their projects, but others expressed frustration and scepticism over the timeframe and final determination of the method, which was first proposed in 2019. There is a clear urgency in discussing new ACCU methods under consideration to address a current shortfall in availability of land-based methods that is restricting industry investment and engagement, CMI chief executive John Connor said. But delegates welcomed the policy certainty provided by the re-election of the Labor government , he added. "We're very hopeful that the IFLM method is legislated this year, and that's what we're working towards with all the stakeholders," Glenday said. But it would take at least up to nearly three years for the first IFLM projects to go from implementation to first ACCU issuances, she added. ACCU generic, generic (No AD) and HIR spot prices ended the week to 9 May at A$35 ($22.50), dropping slightly from a week earlier as the market failed to receive a boost from the Labor party's re-election. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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