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Sept. 14, OCI Global, the world’s largest producer of green methanol, announced plans to double its green methanol production capacity to approximately 400,000 metric tons per year “in response to the growing demand for green methanol from numerous high emissions industries, including road transport, shipping and industrial,” with the Beaumont plant to be on the forefront of the expansion effort.
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 – to achieve OCI’s first upstream RNG production facility with production slated to start in Q1 2025. As well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions, OCI reported that 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.
“(This) announcement cements OCI’s position as the leading green methanol producer globally,” Ahmed El-Hoshy, CEO, OCI Global said. “It also represents another milestone in our decarbonization journey as a business, and our commitment to driving the energy transition.
“It’s positive that we are starting to see industry make that commitment, too. We are seeing encouraging signs with regulatory support for both ammonia and methanol in shipping, such as the EU’s FuelEU maritime regulation and the latest IMO strategy bolstering the value of low carbon and green methanol and ammonia relative to fossil fuels. It is clear that both fuels will need to play an integral role to reach the IMO’s revised targets and OCI Global stands ready to supply them. However, these targets must be supported by practical mechanisms to continue to maintain momentum towards meeting global greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.”
“We are seeing increasing pull from road fuel markets due to the delay in EV adoption and charging station build-out and while marine demand has been growing at a very fast pace, we have yet to see the impact of retrofits which should end up being a larger segment than new-builds,” added Bashir Lebada, CEO, OCI Methanol/HyFuels. “E-methanol will also be a new product for us and, with the RFNBO mandates in the coming years, will quickly become the blendstock of choice with gasoline to ensure compliance.
“We are also very excited to announce the expansion of our 13-year partnership with the city of Beaumont. This landfill will bolster our product portfolio with additional green fuels right in our backyard and add to our existing supply portfolio of RNG.”
The excitement of partnership was mutual, according to Beaumont Mayor Roy West.
“We’re pleased to partner with OCI on this exciting project, which further develops our long-term relationship with OCI as an industrial employer in Beaumont,” West said. “This joint project will create societal and environmental benefits, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction in other air emissions resulting from landfill operations.
“This agreement is considered a win-win agreement for the city and OCI, as it allows the city to generate an additional revenue stream from its landfill operations while OCI will be able to use the renewable natural gas for its business.”