Swedish company planning the production of synthetic methanol Liquid Wind has not been discouraged by its significant setbacks related to financing. The company is currently planning a total of six production facilities, two of which are located in Finland, write Swedish magazine NY Teknik.
In 2021, Liquid Wind launched a project to build a synthetic methanol production plant in Örnsköldsvik in Sweden. At that time, the cost was estimated at nearly two billion SEK, or approximately EUR 185 million.
The Danish energy company Ørsted acquired the project in 2022. Liquid Wind remained in the project as a technology journalist and development partner. Later that year, also the founder of the software company Microsoft Bill Gatesin The Breakthrough Energy Catalyst program led by the project announced that it would participate in the project.
Last fall, however, Ørsted withdrew from the project, citing a slower development of the synthetic methanol market. Breakthrough Energy Catalyst had not yet had time to invest and decided to retire at the same time.
However, Liquid Wind announced that it would continue the project with the municipal energy company in the area, Övik Energ. Now, the company’s new plan, together with Övik Energ, is to build twice as much as plans for a 100,000 -tonne production plant in the same location.
Six production facilities planned
In addition to the Örnsköldsvik production plant, Liquid Wind is planning five other synthetic methanol production facilities, two of which are located in Finland and three in Sweden.
A plan for a production facility located in Haapavesi was announced in December 2023. At that time, the value of the investment was estimated at up to EUR 2 billion, but the estimate was complicated by the uncertainty of building one or two production facilities in Haapavesi. At that time, it was reported that the final investment decision would be made in about two years, ie by the end of 2025.
“At Haapavesi, we are partners in a consortium that builds a bioethanol factory and intends to recover carbon dioxide in connection with it. We look forward to the next step from the municipality of Haapavesi,” Liquid Wind CEO Claes Fredriksson says now to NY Tekn.
Production plant coming to Naantali was announced in January 2025. Commercial production is expected to begin in 2029 if the plant will be invested in 2026. The exact amount of the investment has not been reported, but it is at least EUR 500 million.
Standardized production facilities
The annual production of all production plants designed by Liquid Wind has 100,000 tonnes, or 100 million kilos. The company justifies this with a standardized solution that enables efficient and scalable production.
Liquid Wind intends to finance production facilities either by selling the finished concept, acting as a project supplier to the plant’s operator, or by bringing investors at an early stage. According to the company, the projects have progressed so far as to seek their own interested parties on their own.
Synthetic methanol is made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Because the hydrogen used is produced by electricity with water electrolysis, electrical methanol or e-methanol is also often referred to as water methanol.
Electrolysis is an electrochemical process in which the electric current produces a chemical reaction. In this context, it is used to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen.
There is a growing demand for synthetic methanol, especially in shipping, where it can replace fossil fuels.