Maersk goes big on green fuel — with Egypt as a production hub: Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk and its parent company AP Moller Holding have established a startup that will manufacture green methanol to fuel container ships in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), according to statements by the company (here) and the General Authority for the SCZone (here).

Meet C2X: The new company, dubbed C2X, hopes to produce more than 3 mn tons of green methanol annually by 2030, according to its statement. It is 20% owned by AP Moller-Maersk, with the majority 80% stake held by AP Moller Holding — the investment company belonging to the Maersk founding family. C2X hopes to supply green methanol to AP Moller-Maersk as well as other customers in the chemicals and shipping industries. The company has hired energy industry veteran Brian Davis (LinkedIn) as CEO and Alastair Maxwell (LinkedIn) as its CFO, leading a team of 60 employees. C2X didn’t disclose its capital or the size of its expected investment in the SCZone.

Where does Egypt come in? C2X “is presently pursuing large-scale green methanol projects near the Suez Canal in Egypt and the port of Huelva in Spain” as well as other undisclosed projects, its statement reads.

Expect more details next month: Maersk is expected to sign a framework agreement for the project with the SCZone, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority, and Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company at the start of October, the SCZone statement reads.

Maersk has already been laying the groundwork: Maersk is reportedly on course to purchase half of Egypt’s state-owned 545-MW Zafarana wind farm to help power green fuels production. In May, Egypt’s 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.

What they said: “There is a pressing environmental requirement to scale the production of green methanol,” said AP Moller Holding CEO Robert Uggla. “C2X was founded to enable the energy transition in several hard to abate industries, including plastics, glues, textiles, and fuels.”

PLUS- Maersk’s maiden green methanol voyage is complete: The launch of C2X came in the same week that Maersk completed the maiden voyage of the world’s first green methanol-powered container ship. European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen named the vessel Laura Maersk at a ceremony after it docked in Copenhagen, the company said Thursday. The vessel set out from Asia and last month passed through the Suez Canal on its way to Europe, being refueled at East Port Said port by our friends at OCI Global.

Green fuels? Green fuels are most promising in their potential to substitute fossil fuels in “hard-to-decarbonize” industries including steel, petrochemicals, and fertilizers, and in heavy duty transport including shipping, aviation, and trucking. Already some 100 ships with methanol burning engines have been ordered by shipping giants including Maersk, Cosco and CMA CGM. Read EnterpriseAM’s recent explainer on green fuels for more.

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