Three European energy companies are planning to develop an e-methanol plant in Spain that will capture around 380,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide, which will be used to produce 200,000 tonnes of synthetic methanol each year.
Spanish renewable energy firm Magnon will oversee the carbon capture portion of the project, while partners Power2X and ErasmoPower2X will handle the hydrogen supply. Part of this will see ErasmoPower2X supplying green hydrogen from its facilities in nearby Saceruela.
The project will be located at Magnon’s industrial complex in Puertollano, Ciudad Real, where the carbon capture technology will be fitted into its existing biomass plant.
As a fossil-free feedstock, e-methanol could help to decarbonise hard-to-electrify sectors in Spain – a country which is targeting a fully renewable energy system by 2050.
“This initiative … will decarbonise various Spanish industries [such as] steel, automotive, refineries, and aviation,” said Niels van Buuren, EVP of Business Development at Power2X.
E-methanol is made when green hydrogen is combined with captured biogenic CO2. The process requires a high-purity CO2 stream and hydrogen from electrolysis powered by renewable energy.
These two inputs are synthesised in a reactor under pressure and temperature conditions tailored to maximise methanol yield, typically using a copper-based catalyst. The resulting e-methanol can then be purified and conditioned for use as a fuel or chemical feedstock.
Spain has been scaling up its green hydrogen production capacity in recent years, positioning itself as a southern European hub for renewable hydrogen and its derivatives.
The country has more than 20 e-methanol or power-to-liquid fuel projects at various stages of development, many of them clustered around industrial regions like Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha.
This momentum reflects broader European decarbonisation goals, including the latest Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), which sets binding targets for renewable fuels of non-biological origin in transport and industry.
Additional frameworks such as the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the RePowerEU plan further incentivise member states to support synthetic fuel production as part of the bloc’s push to phase out fossil fuels.
