South Korean firms to produce green methanol
Carbonco, a company specialising in decarbonisation solutions established by DL E&C Co., Ltd (DL Engineering & Construction), is one of the companies that will engage in the Jeju Island green methanol production project. It has signed an agreement with Jeju Energy Corporation, Gaoncell, and ThyssenKrupp to produce e-methanol (eco-friendly electricity-based methanol) using environmentally favourable energy sources.
The agreement ceremony was held at the ThyssenKrupp Carbon Chemical Conversion Technology Centre in Duisburg, Germany, recently and was attended by Carbonco Business Performance Director Kyung-ho Seo, ThyssenKrupp Head of Process Methanol at Carbon2Chem Technology Centre Dr. Alexander Schulz, Jeju Energy Corporation Director. Song-do Kim, and Gaoncell CEO Kyeong-yong Yoon.
The agreement aims to combine the strengths and expertise of each company to construct a renewable energy storage system to achieve the Jeju Island’s vision of Carbon Free Island (CFI). In particular, this project is catching attention as Korea’s first Power to X (P2X) project driven by public-private collaboration. P2X is a conversion technology that stores and utilises renewable energy with inconsistent output in numerous forms such as hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia.
Under the agreement, Jeju Energy Corporation will supply renewable energy by harnessing wind power and other renewable sources. This renewable energy will be used to produce green hydrogen through the electrolysis of water into oxygen and hydrogen.
The green hydrogen will be synthesised with the carbon dioxide captured from the nearby emission sources as e-methanol. ThyssenKrupp will offer the primary facilities for green hydrogen generation as well as technology and facilities as the original technology licensor for the e-methanol production process. Gaoncell will engage in the entire business development and operation as a future buyer of generated e-methanol for use as a raw material in fuel cells that supplies to the market.
Carbonco will be in charge of developing and running a business that captures and supplies carbon dioxide as a raw material for e-methanol using its own carbon capture and storage technologies. Furthermore, the company will be involved in all aspects of the project, from engineering design to procurement of equipment and construction as well as operation and maintenance of e-methanol production facilities.
