Renewables in action: ‘World’s largest’ commercial e-methanol plant inaugurated

Kassø Power-to-X facility in Aabenraa, Denmark, dubbed the world’s largest commercial e-methanol facility, has been officially inaugurated and is supplying e-methanol to offtakers, including shipping giant Maersk.

The inauguration of the Kassø e-methanol facility, developed by European Energy and operated in collaboration with Mitsui & Co., was celebrated on May 13.

Said to be the first of its kind to produce e-methanol at a commercial scale, the plant has an annual production capacity of 42,000 tonnes and operates on renewable energy sources. It is located next to the 304 MW Kassø Solar Park and integrates large-scale renewable power generation with carbon capture and utilisation.

E-methanol with up to a 97% reduced carbon footprint compared to fossil-based products is produced by combining biogenic CO2 with green hydrogen produced on-site.

Designed to support the direct decarbonization of sectors that are otherwise difficult to electrify, e-methanol produced at Kassø will be used to fuel Laura Mærsk, the world’s first container vessel capable of operating on methanol.

The LEGO Group and Novo Nordisk are also offtakers of e-methanol from Kassø, using it to replace fossil methanol in the production of selected products.

Knud Erik Andersen, CEO of European Energy, commented: “The start of operations at Kassø marks a major step forward in bringing Power-to-X technologies into real-world use. This is renewable energy in action, transforming how we use electricity.”

Takashi Furutani, Senior Executive Managing Officer at Mitsui & Co., added that the facility “exemplifies the importance of international collaboration in scaling low-emission solutions.”

Rabab Raafat Boulos, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at A.P. Moller – Maersk, said: “We are excited to receive the first e-methanol from the Kassø facility, marking an important milestone in our global efforts to source alternative fuels for our vessel fleet. The future of shipping must include multiple fuel types operating alongside each other, with methanol playing a key role in the industry’s net-zero ambitions.”

To remind, the Kassø facility produced the first five tons of e-methanol on March 12, 2025, and aims to ramp up production during the second quarter of 2025 to deliver 42,000 tonnes of e-methanol with three electrolyzers from Siemens Energy and a methanol loop designed and constructed by European Energy.

In April, the Kassø Power-to-X was certified as producing e-methanol under the EU’s new sustainability framework for renewable fuels.

The certification, which is said to be the first of its kind for methanol production, was granted through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) EU scheme, confirming that methanol production meets the criteria for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) under the Renewable Energy Directive.