GENA Solutions: Total renewable and low-carbon methanol project pipeline rises from 49.4 to 51.3 Mt by 2030

Methanol

Published Thu, 31st July 2025
by Admin

Information shared by the Methanol Institute meant to assist the maritime industry in the adoption of methanol as a mainstream marine fuel heading into IMO 2030/2050.

GENA Solutions: Total renewable and low-carbon methanol project pipeline rises from 49.4 to 51.3 Mt by 2030

The Methanol Institute recently shared with Manifold Times the renewable and low-carbon methanol project pipeline July 2025 release produced by GENA Solutions Oy (Green Energy Analytics).

Information from the release is meant to provide the bunkering publication’s readers with insight on renewable methanol availability, and to assist the maritime industry in the adoption of methanol as a mainstream marine fuel heading into IMO 2030/2050.

Key highlights from the July 2025 release are as follows:

The renewable methanol project pipeline increased by 1.9 Mt, from 39.3 Mt in June to 41.3 Mt in July 2025. The total renewable and low-carbon methanol project pipeline reached 51.3 Mt. Eight projects were added in June, while five were excluded. In addition, one project has significantly expanded its capacity.
As of July 2025, GENA tracks 132 e-methanol plants and projects with a total capacity of 23.3 Mt by 2030, 98 biomethanol plants and projects with a total capacity of 18 Mt, and 16 low-carbon methanol facilities with a total capacity of 10.1 Mt.
The first industrial-scale hybrid biomethanol project launched production in China during the past month. Another five such facilities are under construction. Hybrid projects combining syngas from biomass gasification with renewable hydrogen via electrolysis now account for about 27% of the global renewable methanol project pipeline.
One more e-methanol project commenced construction in China last month. A large-scale low-carbon and e-methanol facility in Mexico moved to the engineering phase. As a result, about 10% of renewable methanol projects have reached FID, and another 12% have entered the engineering phase. Approximately 78% of low-carbon methanol projects are now in engineering.
China has again increased its share of the global project pipeline: it now accounts for 70% of biomethanol and 42% of e-methanol projects. More than 22 Mt of renewable methanol capacity is under active development in China, including almost 3 Mt under construction.
Global renewable methanol capacity could reach between 4 and 14 Mt by 2030. Based on our renewable methanol consumption scenarios, we estimate a more likely capacity range of 8 to 14 Mt (20–33% of the project pipeline).