Mitsui to invest in e-methanol business in Northern Europe

Japan’s Mitsui & Co has agreed to acquire a 49% equity interest in Kasso MidCo ApS, an affiliate of European Energy, a renewable energy company headquartered in Denmark.

Specifically, Mitsui will acquire a minority stake in European Energy’s solar park and e-methanol production facility Kasso in the municipality of Aabenraa, Denmark. The Danish and EU authorities shall approve the transaction.

European Energy said the e-methanol facility will be powered by the connected solar park and connected to the Danish transmission grid, which will assist in balancing it. Furthermore, the excess heat from the hydrogen production will be used for district heating and provide heating for more than 2,000 households in the area.

Kasso has already constructed facilities for photovoltaic power generation (304 MW) and is under construction of a water electrolyzer and e-methanol factory. Production is scheduled to start in 2024.

According to European Energy, A.P. Moller–Maersk, the LEGO Group and Novo Nordisk are already onboard as off-takers of the e-methanol, with delivery slated to begin in 2024.

To note, Kasso’s e-methanol is a low-carbon methanol produced by synthesizing green hydrogen made by feeding renewable-based electricity into an electrolyzer and green carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from biomass sources, and its e-methanol business produces up to 42,000 tons of e-methanol annually.

By investing in Kasso, Mitsui said it aims to enhance the competitiveness of the Kasso business, and at the same time, deepen its strategic partnership with European Energy.

European Energy CEO Knud Erik Andersen commented on the partnership: “Green hydrogen, e-fuels and low-carbon chemicals are key to decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping, plastic production and aviation. Signing this deal is a testament that our strategy works, and we look forward to making large-scale production of e-methanol a reality.”

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