November 18, 2024 [Manifolds Times]- South Korean clean energy firm PLAGEN on Friday (15 November) announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an Azerbaijan company, AGRARCO, to produce green methanol in Azerbaijan at the UN COP 29.

The MoU will see the construction of Azerbaijan’s first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in Caspian Sea, contributing to the reduction of GHG emissions from maritime transportation.

PLAGEN’s MoU aims to produce 10,000 metric tonnes (mt) of green methanol per year for bunkering in the Caspian Sea and will begin feasibility studies in the first half of 2025, with full-scale production starting in the second half of 2028.

The project, which will be funded by the Regional Revitalization Investment Fund, is scheduled to begin construction in March 2025.

“As Azerbaijan is a desert country without abundant forest biomass, the agricultural wastes such as almond shells, hazelnut shells, olive seeds, and cotton stalks will be used as raw materials for green methanol, which will be supplied by agricultural company AGRARCO,” PLAGEN said in statement to Manifold Times.

ThE Caspian Sea, the largest closed body of water on Earth, is bordered by Russia and Kazakhstan to the north, Iran to the south, Azerbaijan to the west and Turkmenistan to the east, with Azerbaijan being the gateway to Europe.

The company added Russian rail traffic, which used to carry over 90% of the traffic between Europe and China, has been blocked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and as an alternative, rail traffic in the middle corridor across the Caspian Sea is growing exponentially, creating a critical need to reduce GHG emissions from maritime traffic in the Caspian Sea.

“We expect to produce green methanol at the Port of Baku in Azerbaijan in 2028 and supply it to ships in the Caspian Sea, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping in the Caspian Sea and contributing significantly to the revitalization of the local economy and national energy security,” said John Kyung, CEO of PLAGEN.

PLAGEN also completed the purchase of an industrial complex to build Korea’s first green methanol plant in Dongjeom Industrial Complex in Taebaek City, Gangwon Province, and received a construction permit from Taebaek City on 6 November.

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