A.P. Moller Holding, Maersk form firm to produce 3 million tonnes of green methanol by 2030 

C2X, a new, independent company backed by A.P. Moller Holding, A.P. Moller-Maersk’s majority owner, on Thursday (14 September) said it plans to have an annual production capacity of more than three million tonnes by 2030.

C2X is majority owned by A.P. Moller Holding with Maersk as a 20% shareholder, together providing a solid foundation for the company. Maersk has the intention to source green methanol from C2X.

The newly-formed firm said replacing the existing use of fossil methanol with green methanol, and also meeting the growing demand from the use of green methanol as a fuel, requires a step change in the global production capacity of non-fossil methanol. 

“Towards 2050, the annual demand for methanol could triple to some 300 million tonnes, with the majority being green methanol. C2X is addressing this challenge through investments in large-scale green methanol production facilities and aims to support a variety of customers in the chemicals and shipping sectors who need green methanol to deliver their own green-house gas emission reduction targets,” it said. 

“We’ve already moved well past ‘the chicken or the egg?’ discussion on green fuels and green vessels – now it’s a supply challenge that is growing at an exponential rate. Less than two years ago there was only one methanol-capable container vessel on order, today there are more than 120 methanol-capable vessels on order (including retrofits) from five major container carriers. Innovative companies like C2X are going to play an incredibly important role in ramping up green fuel production in the coming years – at pace and at scale. It is great to see A.P. Moller Holding and Maersk making such meaningful investments,” said Morten Bo Christiansen, Head of Energy Transition at Maersk.

“There is a pressing environmental requirement to scale the production of green methanol. C2X was founded to enable the energy transition in several hard to abate industries, including plastics, glues, textiles, and fuels. I am delighted to see the talented team who have joined C2X, and the strong interest from partners and prospective customers to support the venture’s important purpose and development,” says Robert Maersk Uggla, CEO of A.P. Moller Holding.

C2X has a team of 60 people with diverse backgrounds from chemicals, renewables, construction of mega-projects, shipping and finance. C2X will develop green methanol from various pathways depending on specifics of the location, and is presently pursuing large-scale green methanol projects near the Suez Canal in Egypt and the port of Huelva in Spain, as well as other opportunities across several geographies. 

Photo credit: A.P. Moller-Maersk
Published: 18 September, 2023