Maersk invests in green methanol production company

The new methanol production company, C2X, is targeting annual output of over 3 million tonnes of green methanol per year by 2030. According to a press release issued by Maersk’s parent company, A.P. Moller Holding (APMH), which will own 80% of the shares in the new company, C2X is planning to develop large-scale green methanol projects near the Suez Canal in Egypt and the port of Huelva in Spain.

The Motorship notes Egyptian government announced plans to incentivise the production of green hydrogen based fuels in its recent national hydrogen strategy, and the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone is understood to be keen to encourage green hydrogen producers to locate within the zone. The Motorship previously reported on a MoU agreement between the The General Authority for Suez Development Economic Zone and Maersk relating to potential green fuel production in the SCzone in 2022.

The news that Maersk was taking a 20% stake in C2X was announced alongside the formal naming ceremony for Maersk’s container feeder vessel, Laura Maersk, which will be the first container vessel to operate on green methanol.

C2X is also investigating other production location opportunities, and identified green methanol made from e-methanol, via electrolysis from renewable energy, and bio methanol from agricultural and forestry crops and waste as potential production routes.

While the potential production sites cited will support bunkering to the west and east of the Mediterranean, the start-up is not expected to dedicate all of its production for Maersk’s maritime bunkering requirements, or the wider maritime bunker market. It is also looking to supply green methanol to other hard-to-abate industries, including plastics, glues, and textiles.

Vincent Clerc, ceo of Maersk, speaking at a press event in Copenhagen attended by The Motorship noted that around 60 members of staff from Maersk where transferring to work for the green methanol start up, but that they were employees with relevant skills for the project, rather than staff with traditional maritime expertise. He also at pains to note that despite the investment in C2X, Maersk as a shipping company remained agnostic about the potential future fuel for the industry, but added that green methanol was the only alternative that was technologically ready at present.