One step closer to Egypt-made green methanol: Egypt signed a framework agreement on Wednesday with Maersk’s new green methanol company C2X to produce the green fuel in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, according to a statement. The first phase of the project will require USD 3 bn of investment and will produce 300k tons of green methanol per year. The company expects to increase capacity to 1 mn tons a year by the final phase of the project.

Remember: The Danish shipping giant established C2X in September to produce and sell green methanol to the global shipping industry. The firm aims to reach an annual production output of over 3 mn tons by 2030 by pursuing large-scale green methanol projects in Egypt and the port of Huelva in Spain, among several other planned locations. The company is 20% owned by AP Moller-Maersk, with the majority 80% stake held by its parent company AP Moller Holding.

Maersk has already been laying the groundwork: The company had signed a preliminary agreement with the government during the COP27 climate summit last year to invest as much as USD 15 bn to set up clean fuel projects in Egypt. It is reportedly in talks to purchase half of the government’s 545-MW Zafarana wind farm to help power green fuels production. In May, the Egyptian cabinet also approved requests by Norwegian renewables producer Scatec and Maersk to allocate a piece of land in the Gulf of Suez for a 320-MW wind farm to power their green fuel projects.

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