Korea's 1st commercial-scale green methanol site planned for Taebaek City

Plagen, a producer of green hydrogen and green methanol from biogenic waste, has signed an investment agreement with Taebaek City in South Korea’s Gangwon province and eight other companies for the development of the country’s first commercial-scale green methanol plant.

In a press statement, Plagen unveiled the creation of this public-private partnership and noted that it aims to transform the former coal mining city into a clean energy industrial city seeking carbon neutrality. Moreover, the new project is expected to eventually cover 20% of the domestic green methanol production target, according to Plagen’s CEO John Kyung.

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Apart from Plagen and Taebaek City, the partnership includes Korea Ease-West Power, Hyundai Corporation, Ssangyong E&C, Optimum Trading, Hanbit Energy, LF Energy, and Infrastructure Frontier Asset Management.

The project itself envisages the construction of a plant with an initial capacity of 10,000 tonnes of green methanol per year. Building works are seen to start in the first half of 2025 so that the facility becomes operational in the second half of 2027.

“We expect to produce 100,000 tonnes/year of green methanol in Taebaek City by 2030, which is 20% of the domestic green methanol production target, contributing significantly to the revitalisation of the local economy and national energy security,” CEO Kyung stated, referring to the target set by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to produce 500,000 tonnes per year by the end of the decade.

The developer considers Taebaek City to be an optimal location for green methanol production because of the abundance of forest residues and renewable energy infrastructure, wind power in particular. It anticipates supplying the green methanol produced there as fuel for ships on the US-Korea Green Shipping Corridor.