The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, accompanied this Friday the CEO of Cepsa, Maarten Wetselaar, and his counterpart in C2X Brian Davis in the presentation of a new project with which both companies commit to investing up to 1,000 million euros to launch what will be one of the five largest methanol production plants in Spain, with a capacity of 380,000 tons per year.
The event, in which the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, was also present, was held within the framework of COP28 in Dubai.
As explained by the promoters, the project consists of developing a plant in Huelva, with an investment of up to 1 billion euros, which would become one of the five largest green methanol plants in the world, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons, which will prevent the emission of up to 1 million tons of CO2.
Green methanol is produced from green hydrogen and carbon of non-fossil origin captured from the atmosphere or generated from agricultural and forestry waste, and can replace conventional methanol, thus allowing the reduction of CO2 emissions from sectors such as maritime transport. long distance or other industries such as chemicals and plastics production. Therefore, it would serve to complement another of Cepsa’s star projects regarding the transition to the Hydrogen Valley in Huelva, in which it has already announced investments in clean energy worth 3,000 million euros and where it hopes to generate 2GW of green hydrogen in 2030.
The new plant will be powered with part of that hydrogen produced by the solar panels and electrolyzers that will be deployed in the Hydrogen Valley of Huelva, although we will have to wait at least two years, until 2025, for this announcement to materialize with a final decision. investment.
If it goes ahead, it is estimated that it could create 2,500 direct and indirect jobs and will position Andalusia and Spain as a leading global hub in sustainable energies for the production of green molecules, such as hydrogen and methanol, and for their use and transportation. through the strategic ports of the region.
“This project will not only mean a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, green methanol will also allow us to advance the sustainability of sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as maritime transport or the chemical industry. This is therefore a significant step towards a fossil fuel-free future. This investment is fully aligned with the Spanish strategy of reindustrialization and energy transition. We want 81% of our energy generation to come from renewable sources by 2030. Green hydrogen will play a crucial role and, thanks to projects like this, Spain is positioned as a global benchmark,” said the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez.
With this milestone, Sánchez symbolically places the first stone of that macro agreement that the Government announced in April 2022 with which the multinational shipping company, Maersk, committed to investing 10,000 million in the production of methanol to fuel its ships in Spain.
For Maarten Wetselaar, CEO of Cepsa, “This agreement is another milestone in our strategy to make Spain a European hub for green molecules in this decade, with viable projects to reduce emissions in sectors of difficult and urgent decarbonization. We will work with the Spanish Government to develop the regulatory framework necessary for this project to be successful and expand.
Although for this to be possible it is necessary to have public aid as Brian Davis, CEO of C2X, has reminded us. “We see growing demand for green methanol to help industries such as maritime, aviation and chemicals move away from fossil-based energy solutions. Although this project has
solid fundamentals, it will need an enabling framework to be able to offer a competitive source of green methanol to its customers. We are looking forward to working with Cepsa and the Spanish Government to carry out this project,” he told Sánchez.