ETFuels taps John Cockerill and JM for 120,000-tonne e-methanol plant in Texas

ETFuels has selected John Cockerill and Johnson Matthey (JM) to support the development of its 120,000 tonnes per year e-methanol project in Texas.

For the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase, John Cockerill will provide 210MW of its alkaline electrolyser units for the production of green hydrogen, whilst JM will supply its eMERALD e-methanol technology and synthesis catalyst.

By 2029, ETFuels expects to produce 120,000 tonnes of e-methanol annually from co-located 500MW renewable energy resources, together with biogenic CO2 at the 22,000-acre plant.

ETFuels is scheduled to take a final investment decision (FID) on the plant in 2026, with construction forecasted to begin before 2027. The total investment is understood to be over a billion dollars.

The e-methanol produced in Texas is also set to avoid approximately 200,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, the “equivalent to planting a forest the size of 13,000 football fields,” according to JM.

“With stringent FuelEU regulation in place and increasing demands for genuine supply chain decarbonisation, we see a strong business case for scalable, low cost, ultra-low emission fuels, particularly for early adopter customers who can benefit both economically and reputationally,” explained Lara Naqushbandi, CEO of ETFuels.

Nicolas de Coignac, Group Executive Vice-President and President of Hydrogen Americas at John Cockerill, added that the scalability of ETFuels’ model makes them a “strong partner to accelerate towards robust GW-scale green hydrogen projects.”