OCI Global to double its green methanol capacity in the United States
OCI will scale capacity by 200,000 tons at its facility in Beaumont, Texas. The green methanol will come from a mix of renewable feedstocks, including renewable natural gas (RNG), green hydrogen and other over the fence feedstock partnerships. OCI will add green hydrogen-based e-methanol to its production portfolio for the first time.
The move cements OCI’s position as the world’s biggest producer and supplier of green methanol OCI Global, the world’s largest producer of green methanol, has today announced plans to double its green methanol production capacity to approximately 400,000 metric tons per year.
The scale-up plans include entering into supply agreements for renewable natural gas (RNG) exceeding 15,000 mmbtu per day – as well as securing the waste and development rights from the City of Beaumont.
This is OCI’s first upstream RNG production facility and production is slated to start in Q1 2025. As well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions, obtaining biogas from landfill has the benefit of using methane – which over a 20 year period, has a global warming potential that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide - that would otherwise escape and accelerate global warming.
OCI currently has capacity to produce up to 200 thousand metric tons of green methanol. Offtakers include the road fuels market, where it is used as a fuel-blend to reduce emissions from petrol; as a building block in a range of industrial applications; and most recently, as a fuel for shipping.
OCI has projected growth in the green methanol market of incremental demand of more than 6 million tonnes by 2028, due to the adoption of green methanol as a shipping fuel, based on the 225 dual- fuelled methanol vessels now on order. This summer, the first ever green methanol container vessel, owned by AP Moller Maersk, was fueled with OCI HyFuels green methanol on its maiden voyage from Korea to Copenhagen. The company also announced last month a new agreement with Xpress Feeder Lines to supply their green methanol ships at the Port of Rotterdam from 2025.
OCI HyFuels was established in 2015 to provide customers in the road, marine, power, and industrial sectors with renewable and low-carbon fuel alternatives to meet evolving regulatory requirements. OCI HyFuels is a pioneer in and the world’s largest producer and distributor of green methanol, including the production of biomethanol and bio-MTBE, and trading and distribution capabilities renewable natural gas and ethanol.
