AMSTERDAM — Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) and Gasunie have agreed to supply green hydrogen to BioMCN for the production of renewable methanol from CO₂. The companies say it marks the next step in the sustainability of processes in the industry.

Nouryon and Gasunie are currently investigating the possible conversion of sustainable electricity into green hydrogen using a 20-megawatt water electrolysis unit in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. A final decision on the project is expected later this year.

BioMCN will combine hydrogen from the intended facility with CO₂ from other processes to produce renewable methanol, a raw material for bio-fuels and a variety of chemical feedstocks. Compared to fossil-based methanol this will reduce emissions by up to 27,000 tons of CO₂ per year.

Søren Jacobsen, Managing Director at BioMCN, said, “This partnership is an important step towards a circular economy. Thanks to the supply of green hydrogen, we can replace natural gas as a feedstock and recycle carbon emissions to produce new raw materials and fuels, effectively turning CO₂ emissions into carbon savings and helping the Netherlands meet its carbon reduction goals.”

Knut Schwalenberg, Managing Director Industrial Chemicals at Nouryon, added, “Green hydrogen is a realistic alternative for fossil-based raw materials and enables new forms of green chemistry. This agreement will help to support long-term growth in that market.”

Gerard van Pijkeren, Managing Director at Gasunie New Energy, said, “Gas infrastructure plays a connecting and facilitating role in the energy transition. We will be transporting different energy carriers, such as hydrogen and green gas, increasingly through our pipelines in the future. As independent network operator we can connect hydrogen from different suppliers for transportation to the major industrial clusters in the Netherlands. This network may have a capacity of 10 gigawatts or more by 2030.”

Gasunie is a European gas infrastructure company. The company's network is one of the largest high-pressure pipeline networks in Europe, comprising over 15,000 kilometres of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany.

BioMCN is one of Europe’s largest methanol producers and is the first company in the world to produce and sell industrial quantities of high-quality bio-methanol, an advanced biofuel produced from biogas sourced from waste digestion plants.