Haldor Topsoe, Ravnholm, Denmark, said on June 7 it had signed a tripartite license agreement with Russia’s Baltic Gas Chemical Co. (BGCC) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering for a methanol plant project in Ust-Luga, Russia. Under the contract, signed on May 25, Topsoe will deliver SynCOR MethanolTM license, basic engineering, proprietary technology, and catalysts. Mitsubishi will be responsible for front end engineering design and engineering, procurement, and construction of the project.
The planned facility will have capacity of 1.7 million mt/y or 5,000 mt/d, and when completed will be among the largest single-train methanol capacities in operation today. It will use natural gas as the main feedstock.
BGCC inked a trading and investment cooperation memorandum on the same day with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Japan’s Marubeni Corp., and Russian private investment firm Invasta Capital for the construction of the plant (GM June 1, p. 29). According to BGCC, it and Marubeni already have agreed to the main terms and conditions of methanol offtake from the planned facility (GM June 1, p. 29).