Finland’s GENA Solutions Oy (GENA), in partnership with the Methanol Institute (MI) has recently published the December release of GENA’s Project Navigator Methanol, which currently tracks 273 renewable and low-carbon methanol plants and projects worldwide.
Four projects were added in the December 2025 release, and one frozen project was excluded. In total, during 2025, GENA registered 94 new renewable and low-carbon methanol projects and excluded 34 halted projects.
As of December 2025, GENA’s Project Navigator Methanol tracks 273 renewable and low-carbon methanol plants and projects with a total capacity of 56.5 million tonnes (Mt) by 2030, including 133 e-methanol (23.3 Mt), 122 biomethanol (22.1 Mt), and 18 low-carbon methanol (11.2 Mt).
As a result, the project pipeline increased by 12.4 Mt for renewable methanol and 3 Mt for low-carbon methanol from December 2024 to December 2025.
However, project pipeline growth slowed in November–December 2025, following the decision to adjourn the adoption of the IMO Net-Zero Framework in October 2025.
Most renewable methanol projects utilize one of the following technological pathways: power-to-methanol, biomass gasification, waste gasification (waste-to-methanol), and biomethane reforming.
Three small-scale biomethanol facilities are also based on black liquor treatment, a by-product of the pulp and paper industry.
Power-to-methanol facilities use renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) to synthesize e-methanol.
As of the end of 2025, the power-to-methanol pathway accounts for about 51 percent of renewable methanol project pipeline capacity by 2030, but only 12 percent of operational capacity.
Growth in biomass- and waste gasification
The second-largest group of renewable methanol projects gasifies agricultural and/or forestry residues to produce syngas and then synthesizes methanol.
They account for 43 percent of the renewable methanol project pipeline capacity and 27 percent of operational capacity. About 70 percent of biomass gasification projects plan to use hydrogen boosting to increase production capacity (a hybrid configuration also called bio-e-methanol).
Waste-to-methanol projects include gasification of residual waste, such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF), or a mix of waste and biomass—sometimes also with hydrogen as an additional feedstock.
Waste-to-methanol projects could certify a portion of their product as biomethanol and the balance as circular methanol (a recycled carbon fuel). About 2 percent of the project pipeline is based on this configuration.
RNG reforming tops operational capacity
Biomethane, aka renewable natural gas (RNG), reforming facilities account for about 60 percent of operational renewable methanol capacity as of end-2025, but only 4 percent of the project pipeline by 2030.
This includes both stand-alone facilities that use only biomethane or biogas as feedstock and mass-balance facilities that partially use biomethane feedstock at natural-gas-based facilities.
China leads production and growth
China, Europe, and North America are expected to be the three main centers of renewable and low-carbon methanol production. These regions account for 95 percent of biomethanol, 87 percent of e-methanol, and 100 percent of low-carbon methanol projects.
China holds the largest share of both the biomethanol (78 percent) and e-methanol (43 percent) pipelines. Europe follows with 33 percent of e-methanol and 11 percent of biomethanol. North America leads in low-carbon methanol, with a 96 percent share.
China is advancing faster in renewable methanol development than other regions. The country accounts for more than 90 percent of all renewable methanol capacity currently under construction.
Low production costs and CAPEX, availability of biomass and renewable electricity, and shorter project development periods are among the major factors driving faster project development in China.
2025 was a watershed year
The renewable methanol industry reached a turning point in 2025, with several first-of-a-kind industrial-scale facilities starting operations.
This includes the launch of the Kassø e-methanol plant in Denmark in May 2025 (42 ktpa), Shanghai Electric’s Taonan hybrid biomethanol facility (50 ktpa; straw gasification plus renewable hydrogen boosting) in Jilin, China, in July 2025, and the CIMC Green Energy biomass gasification plant (50 ktpa) in Guangdong, China, in December 2025.
Successful operations of these facilities would help reduce technological risks and costs for new projects, as well as increase renewable methanol availability in the market.
Seven demonstration, small-scale, or mass-balance facilities also started production during 2025. Several other renewable methanol facilities began commissioning or made substantial construction progress during 2025 and are scheduled to start operations in 2026.
Eight commercial-scale renewable methanol projects began construction or reached final investment decision (FID) during 2025, while another twelve projects started front-end engineering design (FEED).
Both e-methanol and biomethanol project pipelines are still dominated by early-stage projects (feasibility or pre-feasibility); however, this is mainly driven by rapid pipeline growth.
Future growth depends on regulatory outcomes
In 2026, GENA expects that renewable methanol capacity could reach about 2 Mt– a more than two-fold increase compared to 2025 – while there will likely be a slowdown in project pipeline growth compared to 2024–2025, partially due to an increase in the number of frozen projects.
Further growth of renewable methanol capacity will depend substantially on regulatory developments—especially the fate of the IMO Net-Zero Framework—as well as demand growth in maritime, chemicals, aviation, and road fuels.
In particular, the development of methanol-to-jet and methanol-to-olefins projects could create substantial new markets for e-methanol and biomethanol.
GENA estimates that renewable methanol capacity could range from 6 to 13 Mt by 2030.
