SIMIC

SPANISH energy giant Iberdrola is investing US$1.17 billion in developing a new green hydrogen and methanol plant in Tasmania, reports Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide.
The new facility will produce 300,000 tonnes of methanol for use as a marine fuel.
Iberdrola is partnering with ABEL Energy and the Australian government to set up "Bell Bay Powerfuels," at Bell Bay in the northern part of Tasmania.
The project proponents stated the new facility will initially produce 200,000 tonnes of green methanol, rising to 300,000 tonnes later.
Currently, 90 methanol plants around the world produce 110 million tonnes of methanol, which is a commodity used to create a wide range of industrial and consumer products.
The current size of the world market for cargo ship fuel is 229 million tonnes, with a value of $130 billion annually.
However, as methanol has less than half the energy content of heavy fuel oil and as the price of methanol is greater than heavy fuel oil, the future world volume and value of the global ocean going cargo ship fuel market will likely increase.
Some 6,013 unique cargo ships made a total of 34,000 port calls in Australia in 2018-2019, while 5,915 unique cargo ships made 17,602 voyages to Australia from overseas ports.
"The size of Iberdrola's green methanol investment in Tasmania is most welcome," said Shipping Australia CEO Melwyn Noronha.
"The green shipping revolution is well and truly on its way to Australia. It is also further evidence, along with all the announcements from ocean shipping companies and the new environmentally-friendly shipping regulations from the IMO, that the global ocean shipping industry is barreling head-first and at speed toward a brighter, cleaner and greener future."