Técnicas Reunidas awarded FEED contract for eMethanol project in La Robla, Spain

Reolum, a Spanish company specializing in solutions for decarbonization and energy transition, has awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to a consortium formed by Técnicas Reunidas and Siemens Energy for the La Robla Green project.

The project aims to develop one of Europe’s largest renewable methanol plants in La Robla, Spain.

The facility, with a production capacity of 140,000 tons per year, will combine biogenic carbon from a biomass cogeneration plant with renewable hydrogen to produce eMethanol.

The project is at the forefront of eMethanol production technology, according to Reolum.

The company said eMethanol will play an important role in the decarbonization of maritime transport, both through its direct use as fuel and as a feedstock for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Furthermore, methanol produced from low-emission raw materials and technologies is a key product for facilitating the decarbonization of industrial sectors that currently have high emission levels, such as the chemical industry and aviation and maritime transport.

In addition to Reolum, the project brings together the services, knowledge and capabilities of four major companies with strong specialization in decarbonization: Siemens Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Johnson Matthey and Técnicas Reunidas.

According to the scope of the contract, Siemens Energy’s work will focus on the renewable hydrogen unit, while Técnicas Reunidas’ work will address the biogenic-carbon capture and eMethanol production units.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will be the licensor of the CO2 capture and Johnson Matthey will be the supplier of a proprietary technology called eMERALD™, which enables the direct hydrogenation of captured CO2 into methanol.

This project is part of Track, Técnicas Reunidas’ decarbonization strategy, one of the pillars of SALTA, the strategic program the company launched last May.

The development of this engineering phase will be the preliminary step for the physical execution of the plant, which will be carried out through an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge allocated 180-million euros (USD$195.3 million) to the project Feb. 21 from NextGenerationEU funds in the provisional resolution of the call for aid for the creation of seven large renewable hydrogen clusters located in Aragon, Andalusia, Castile and León, Catalonia, and Galicia, which are part of the H2 Valles program.