Iberdrola, Foresa unveil green methanol project in northwest Spain

Iberdrola SA (BME:IBE) on Thursday announced a green methanol project it is working on alongside Spanish chemicals company Foresa in the region of Galicia, northwestern Spain.

The Green UMIA project is the first of presumably several the partners will explore to enable Foresa obtain methanol from domestic and renewable ingredients, the Spanish utility said.

Foresa, which produces formaldehyde and adhesives, has one of its facilities in Caldas de Reis, a Galician town located on the river Umia. The town will be the site of the proposed green methanol plant.

The Green UMIA project will represent an investment of over EUR 40 million (USD 39m), Iberdrola said. The partners plan to obtain methanol from biogenic CO2 and green hydrogen. Electrolysers for green hydrogen production will be powered by a nearby wind farm, which will generate 18 MW once installed.

The project has been declared a “priority business initiative” by the regional government of Galicia. This status enables the promoters to benefit from a fast-tracked permitting procedure, and have the green methanol plant in commercial operation in July 2025, according to Iberdrola.

Once up and running, the plant will churn out 2,900 tonnes of green methanol per year.

Spain’s chemicals industry consumes more than 600,000 tonnes of grey methanol per year, most of it imported from non-EU countries, while Galicia alone needs over 130,000 tonnes, Iberdrola added.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 0.975)

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