European Energy’s Kassø Power-to-X Facility Obtains Methanol Certification

The European Union’s (EU) International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) program awarded an e-methanol certification to European Energy’s Kassø Power-to-X facility in Aabenraa, Denmark. The first-of-its-kind approval for renewable methanol production arrived after Kassø met the requirements for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) in alignment with the Renewable Energy Directive.

European Energy developed the Kassø Power-to-X project, the world’s first commercial e-methanol facility, in partnership with Mitsui & Co. It generates 42,000 tons of renewable methanol per year and, with the certification, can deliver fuel to aviation-, maritime-, and industry-based off-takers around the globe. Kassø’s certification integrates power-to-x technologies into European energy and transport systems, decarbonizing hard-to-abate markets through synthetic renewable fuels.

ISCC Certification Process

The ISCC EU certification process establishes consistent standards for the continent’s green fuels industry, independently evaluating renewable electricity sourcing and carbon origins in production. E-methanol certifications are granted once a facility documents its renewable electricity and biogenic CO₂ usage and complies with mass balance and traceability requirements.

Kassø Power-to-X facility; image credit: European Energy

“The ISCC EU RNFBO certification is an important step in validating the renewable integrity of our e-methanol and ensuring it can support climate action across Europe,” says Rene Alcaraz Frederiksen, CEO of Solar Park Kassø. Kassø’s e-methanol is now available under the EU’s FuelEU Maritime and ReFuelEU Aviation regulations, as well as in national quota systems.

Power-to-X in Europe

In early March 2025, MAN Energy Solutions agreed to provide the pre-FEED for a methanation reactor at StormFisher Hydrogen’s large-scale, 200-MW power-to-x plant, to be built in North America. Under the agreement, MAN Energy will test the methanation reactor technology at its facility in Deggendorf, Germany, aiming to improve methane purity by reducing unreacted components in the e-methane output. The plant is expected to produce 2.5 million MMBtu of e-methane per year, equivalent to about 50,000 metric tons of LNG.

StormFisher’s plant will convert 200 MW of renewable electricity, produced via wind and solar, into green hydrogen via electrolysis. The hydrogen is then mixed with biogenic CO₂ and a catalyst to generate e-methane, which satisfies North American pipeline standards and allows the fuel to integrate within current natural gas infrastructures. E-methane’s pipeline utilization offers decarbonization at scale with lower costs.

EU Energy Initiatives

In June 2024, Air Liquide and Dunkerque LNG received financial support from the European Commission for the D’Artagnan CO₂ transportation and exportation infrastructure project. D’Artagnan would represent:

• an approximate investment of more than €400 million,
• and benefit from a grant of more than €160 million under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy funding program.

Investment is tied to the signing of CO₂ management and capture service contracts.

The D’Artagnan project is part of the “Cap Décarbonation” initiative whose mission is to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1.5 mtpa in the industrial basin of Dunkirk and its surroundings. It will feature an Air Liquide pipeline to transport CO₂ from capture sites to a terminal in the West Port of Dunkirk for liquefaction and export via ships. The initiative is also supported by a complementary project: CO₂ capture at the Eqiom cement plant in Lumbres and Lhoist lime production in Réty, both in the north of France and assisted by Air Liquide’s Cryocap technology.