(Pineville / USA) – Sungas Renewables Inc. is building a production plant for “green” methanol in the US state of Louisiana. To do this, the company founded the subsidiary Beaver Lake Renewable Energy, LLC (BLRE). The factory is “expected to produce almost 400.000 tons of marine fuel per year.”
Biomass and carbon capture
According to Emma Mazhari, head of energy markets at Sungas, production will use “biomass from sustainably managed forestry combined with carbon capture”. BLRE is investing around $1,8 billion (2009 billion euros) in construction on the site of a paper mill in Pineville, Rapides Parish County that closed in XNUMX.
Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2024, with a FEED (front-end engineering and design) study to be carried out in October. Commercial operations are scheduled to start in 2027. There will be more than 1.150 local jobs during the construction phase, and more than 100 permanent employees will be required for operations. The state of Louisiana will “continue to support the company’s efforts to complete the project,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Further methanol plants planned in the USA
The fuel is intended for AP Moller-Maersk's new methanol-powered container ships. The Danish shipping company reached a corresponding agreement with Sungas in 2022. Accordingly, several plants are to be built in the USA for the production of methanol.
Overall, a number of are already working Companies worldwide to supply green fuel for the 19 methanol-capable container ships that Maersk has specially ordered for its fleet. These include Carbon Sink LLC (USA), CIMC Enric Holdings Ltd. (China), Debo, European Energy A/S (Denmark), Green Technology Bank Co. Ltd. (China), Ørsted A/S (Denmark), Proman AG (Switzerland) and Wastefuel Global (USA). The methanol production plants are being built in Europe, Asia and North and South America.
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The Danish shipping company Maersk wants to operate 19 new container ships with green methanol. © AP Moller-Maersk A/S
