The NextFuel consortium has reached a major milestone in preparing Europe’s first industrial-scale biomethanol plant built on electrified Steam Methane Reforming (eSMR). The project partners have now completed a comprehensive mapping of the stakeholders, infrastructure needs and supply-chain pathways required to deploy TOPSOE’s eREACT™-based solution at commercial scale.
This next-generation plant design is capable of producing 150 tonnes of biomethanol per day, marking one of the most ambitious steps in industrialising electric reforming technology worldwide. The plant’s modular structure, new contracting model, and compatibility with existing gas and electricity grids make it a potential cornerstone for future green fuel production across Europe.
The stakeholder report highlights several key insights:
- Coastal industrial (chemical) parks emerge as ideal host sites, when offering stable access to renewable electricity, shared CO₂ infrastructure, easy access to feedgas, product shipping logistics and opportunities for circular resource use.
- Biomethane integration provides a low-risk pathway for early deployment, while enabling future expansion to raw biogas and off-gas scenarios.
- Flexible operation enables the plant to adapt to fluctuating electricity prices, supporting both system stability and cost-efficient production.
- Strong maritime demand for low-carbon methanol is emerging, with shipowners investing heavily in dual-fuel methanol-MGO vessels.
With regulatory frameworks tightening and demand for clean fuels accelerating, the insights delivered through this work package strengthen the technical, commercial and societal foundations for the world’s first industrial eSMR installation.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101136225.
