Wison’s floating green methanol plant gets BV’s nod

Classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) has issued Approval in Principle (AIP) to Chinese provider of clean energy technology service and solutions Wison Offshore & Marine (WOM) for its floating green methanol plant (FGMP) solutions.

As informed, the approval was awarded at Marintec, Shanghai, China on December 6. The floating green methanol plant（FGMP）developed by WOM will use renewable energy and the carbon dioxide (CO2) captured to produce green methanol.

The grid electricity from renewable energy (such as from wind power, solar energy, hydraulic power and etc.) is utilized to electrolyze water to produce green hydrogen, which further reacts with carbon dioxide captured from near shore refinery and petrochemical industrial tail gas to produce green methanol.

According to the company, no carbon emissions are produced during normal production. If the captured carbon dioxide comes from the flue gas of the power plant, the plant will produce e-methanol.

Compared with the onshore methanol plant, the FGMP has high system integration and a small footprint, which is easy to deploy, highly flexible, and far away from communities and to realize safety and environmental protection.

The production process of methanol realizes the resource utilization of carbon dioxide. This solution can help high-emission enterprises to achieve low-carbon development, WOM noted.

“Future energy utilization will pivot towards renewable energy and nuclear power. WOM, as a leading clean energy technology and solution provider, is committed to providing efficient integrated EPCIC solutions for the energy industry. These include floating LNG facilities, onshore standard modular LNG plants, floating wind turbine, floating natural gas to methanol, floating green ammonia and other clean energy solutions,” Zhou Nan, General Manager of WOM’s Product Technology Center, stated.

“The successful development of the floating green methanol plant marks another innovative addition to WOM’s clean energy solutions. WOM will intensify research and development efforts, propel industrialization of floating green methanol plant, contribute to the construction of a global clean energy system, and foster sustainable development.”

“As the preferred classification society for the global offshore and energy industries, based on continuous investment and research in the field of clean energy, Bureau Veritas has gained great achievements. Bureau Veritas hopes to use its extensive industry experience and advanced technical knowledge to further support Wison’s floating green methanol solution. Bureau Veritas looks forward to further cooperation and exchanges with Wison in technical services and classification in the future,” Wei Yungang, Vice President of Bureau Veritas and General Manager of Offshore of North Asia Zone said.

Green methanol as a carbon-neutral cornerstone energy substitute for fuel oil, is easy to transport and store, and. It can be directly used as a low-carbon fuel for vehicles and ships. At the same time, it is also one of the carriers for large-scale hydrogen storage, with a hydrogen storage density of 13%wt.

Meanwhile, WOM recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with energy major Baker Hughes to collaborate on future offshore floating LNG (FLNG) and onshore LNG projects. The agreement aims to lay the groundwork for the collaboration between Wison and Baker Hughes and future project opportunities in the field of offshore FLNG and onshore LNG applications.