MI – the Global Methanol Alliance recently shared with Manifold Times the renewable and low-carbon methanol project pipeline August 2026 release produced by GENA Solutions Oy.

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 takeaways from GENA’s August 2026 Methanol release are as follows:

• As of the end of August 2026, GENA tracks 286 renewable and low carbon methanol projects, representing 62.2 Mt of capacity by 2032. This includes 25.1 Mt of e-methanol, 25.9 Mt of biomethanol, and 11.2 Mt of low carbon methanol capacity.
• Two new projects were added to Project Navigator last month, while one frozen project was excluded. The project pipeline increased by 0.4 Mt month on month.
• Four new offtake agreements were registered during August, including two biomethanol and two e-methanol agreements.
• About 8% of the cumulative renewable methanol project pipeline capacity has reached FID so far, with another 11% at the FEED stage.
• Considering the current uncertainty around regulatory developments and demand growth, GENA projects that renewable methanol capacity could reach 6 Mt to 12 Mt by 2031.

Note: The full article can be viewed here.

Photo credit: GENA Solutions
Published: 4 September, 2026

South Korean firm EcoMethanol on Wednesday (26 August) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the supply of green methanol with Taebaek City, Hyundai Corporation, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean AS of Norway and EUKOR Car Carriers. 

The signing took place at EUKOR’s head office in Seoul.

EcoMethanol is the special purpose company set up by South Korean clean energy firm Plagen to build a green methanol plant in Taebaek, Gangwon State. 

Under the MoU, Hyundai Corporation will buy the methanol produced in Taebaek and sell it on to the two carriers, which will burn it as fuel in their own fleets. Taebaek City takes part as an equity co-investor and will provide administrative and policy support. Production, trading and end use are tied together in a single chain, the first such arrangement in Korea.

Manifold Times previously reported Taebaek City and Plagen signing an investment agreement for a new green methanol production plant in the South Korean city that will be supplied as bunker fuel.

The plant will produce 15,000 metric tonnes (mt) a year from forestry residues, using dual fluidized bed (DFB) gasification, a process already proven in commercial operation. Total investment is KRW 120 billion.

EcoMethanol holds Korea’s integrated environmental permit, has secured its site in the Dongjeom Industrial Complex and has completed basic design. Construction is due to start in December 2026 and commercial production in January 2029. The plant will employ 36 people locally.

Taebaek’s role as a production hub is written into both national and provincial plans. The Taebaek Jangseong Colliery Economic Revitalization Project cleared preliminary feasibility review in 2025 with a green methanol facility included in its scope, and Gangwon State lists a green methanol cluster in its mid- to long-term investment plan for former coal-mining regions. Dongjeom will be the first of these facilities to be built, because its industrial site is already developed.

Carbon regulation in shipping is no longer a prospect. The EU Emissions Trading System now covers maritime transport, the FuelEU Maritime regulation on greenhouse gas intensity is in force, and the International Maritime Organization is moving toward adoption of its Net-Zero Framework.

Korean carriers are already buying green methanol. HMM’s methanol-fueled container ships HMM Green and HMM Forest took on 2,900 mt and 3,110 mt at Yangshan Port in Shanghai in March and May 2025. 

The car carrier Arctic Tern, operated by EUKOR, loaded about 2,800 mt in Shanghai in July 2026 before starting commercial service on the Asia-Europe route. All of that fuel was made in China.

Korea produces none of its own. Ulsan Port was the first port anywhere to bunker green methanol for a ship, in 2023, but the fuel had been imported. 

Korea consumes roughly 2 million mt of methanol a year, most of it imported and made from fossil feedstock.

The Taebaek plant would be the country’s first domestic source of clean marine fuel.

Related: Korea: Taebaek City and PLAGEN to build green methanol bunker fuel plant

Photo credit: EcoMethanol
Published: 28 August, 2026

The Australian Government on Wednesday (26 August) released the Maritime Emissions Reduction National Action Plan (MERNAP), outlining practical actions government and industry can take to continue decarbonisation of the maritime sector.

One of the actions highlighted in the plan include that the Australian Government will further promote and support the use of low carbon fuels in shipping to reduce the carbon footprint of transporting Australia’s green energy exports and the acceleration of the low carbon liquid fuels (LCLF) industry under programmes such as the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund.

Through a stocktake of programmes, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sports and the Arts, will flag the requirements of the maritime industry with relevant programmes. 

“This work will feed into the development of a bunkering strategy to help guide investment in green fuels,” it said. 

Announced in Budget 2026-27, the Australian Government is investing $4 million to develop a green fuel bunkering strategy, to prepare Australian ports to diversify the maritime fuel mix, supported by targeted industry trials and studies. It will help secure long-term resilience for the industry that carries more than 99% of Australia’s trade by volume.

The Government will also encourage and support investment in storage and bunkering facilities for low carbon fuels, shore power infrastructure and expansion of port energy capabilities.

The actions in the MERNAP have been deliberately developed to take account of the significant Australian Government investments in maritime and energy decarbonisation initiatives, including $4 million to develop a green fuel bunkering strategy. 

Stretching across ports, shipping, energy, domestic commercial vessels and skills and training, the MERNAP identifies key priority actions to support decarbonisation while recognising Australian shipping must remain competitive and prosperous in the international market

The MERNAP complements existing Australian Government incentives and policies including the $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Programme, the Green Fuel Bunkering Strategy, the $30 million Australia-Singapore Low-Emissions Technologies Initiative for Maritime and Port Operations, the $55 million Transport Resilience And Capacity Kickstart programme and the $13.8 million Maritime Skills and Training Initiative.

It also complements the country’s $100 million investment in a new Clean Energy Precinct at the Port of Newcastle, which is expected to facilitate production, storage, distribution and export of clean-energy products including hydrogen and ammonia.

Australia’s Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, said: “The recent conflict in the Middle East has demonstrated to us how critical it is to build resilience and sustainability within our maritime industry.

“In a nation where our maritime sector is responsible for 99 per cent of our international trade, the MERNAP is a vital piece of our journey toward a sustainable future.

“It also presents an unparalleled opportunity to be a low and zero-carbon energy exporter of choice internationally, while creating new jobs and industry within the sustainable maritime sector locally.”

Note: The Australian Government’s Maritime Emissions Reduction National Action Plan can be read here. 

Photo credit: Dan Freeman on Unsplash
Published: 28 August, 2026