European Energy and Greenfield Global have turned a 2025 memorandum of understanding into a joint venture: together they want to build an e-methanol plant next to Greenfield’s ethanol facility near Montréal, Québec. The planned capacity is 48,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year, slightly more than European Energy’s operating Kassø plant in Denmark (42,000 tonnes per year). It is a development announcement, not a final investment decision.
What the two companies announced
The plant is to combine renewable electricity with biogenic CO2 captured from the fermentation at Greenfield’s ethanol plant. According to the companies, the product is aimed at customers seeking RFNBO-compliant fuels, maritime fuels and renewable polymers. Québec was chosen for its low-cost, low-carbon hydroelectricity, the existing industrial infrastructure, export routes to Europe and domestic markets, and a supportive policy environment. Preliminary engineering studies are complete and construction of the grid connection is underway, according to Hydrocarbon Processing; commercial talks with potential offtakers are to start immediately. (Sources: Hydrocarbon Processing, 2 November 2026, engine.online, 2 November 2026)
What is still open
No project timeline has been disclosed, and neither source names an investment amount or a final investment decision. The two reports also describe the sequence slightly differently: one says engineering studies are complete and offtake talks begin now, the other that talks follow once studies are complete and grid construction is underway. Until offtake agreements and financing are announced, the 48,000 tonnes remain a plan. European Energy reports Maersk among the offtakers of its Danish plant and names shipping as a target market for the Québec project.
What it means for Power-to-X
The project shows a pattern that recurs in Power-to-X: the carbon source and the electricity source decide the site. An ethanol plant delivers concentrated biogenic CO2, hydropower delivers low-carbon electricity, and the same company repeats a design it already operates. Biogenic CO2 is only one of three sources for renewable fuels; atmospheric and industrial sources (carbon capture and utilisation) are the others, and the climate case for any of them depends on the recycled carbon displacing fossil carbon rather than giving a reason to use more of it. For Switzerland, the project is a reminder that RFNBO-compliant molecules for shipping and chemicals will also be made abroad, close to cheap electricity and concentrated CO2. It does not replace domestic Power-to-X, which has to cover winter electricity and Swiss carbon sources, but it shows what a bankable project template looks like.
🤖 AI transparency: This text and its visual were created using AI, reviewed and approved by a human.
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