UK port operator Global Energy Group (GEG) has partnered with Swiss energy company Proman to develop a renewable power to methanol plant at the Nigg Oil Terminal in Scotland’s Port of Nigg.

The so-called Cromarty Clean Fuels Project will utilise local industrial sources of captured carbon dioxide and harness excess wind power to produce green methanol.

Green methanol is a renewable liquid that is used in transport as a fuel and as a feedstock in the chemical industry.

Proman, the world’s second-largest methanol producer will become the owner and operator of the plant.

Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer of GEG, said: “This plant will have the capability of harnessing excess power to produce green methanol, which can then be used as an automotive or shipping fuel or as a chemical building block in thousands of everyday products.“

David Cassidy, Chief Executive Officer of Proman, commented: “Green methanol presents a significant opportunity to bridge the gap from fossil-based to renewable fuels as we move to a lower carbon future and as such the production of and market for ‘green’ methanol from sustainable sources such as waste, biomass or renewable energy is growing and highly scalable.“