Weekly Roundup from our partner etasca with insights from ppPLUS

1️⃣ Swiss engine developer WinGD Ltd. will supply methanol capable engines for over 30 newbuild container ships for a major Taiwanese owner who has shifted attention from LNG to methanol following April’s International Maritime Organization MEPC meeting.

2️⃣ SABIC has permanently closed its Olefins 6 cracker in Teesside, UK, ending 46 years of operations. Offline since 2020, the plant was slated for gas conversion, but high energy costs and a strategic review, including a potential European divestment, prompted the shutdown.

More insights on the decision and Sabic's operations: Message: SABIC's Teesside Clo

3️⃣ Bidders have submitted takeover offers for insolvent French hydrogen electrolyser manufacturer McPhy Energy. The bidders include Belgian electrolyser producer John Cockerill, EDF’s hydrogen subsidiary Hynamics, and hydrogen refuelling firm Atawey Hydrogen.

4️⃣ Energy Tree Solutions and CPC Finland have formed LUOTO ENERGIA to develop a 500 MW electric natural gas project in Finland. The site will produce ~60 000 tons of green H2 and >125 000 tons of e-NG annually.

5️⃣ Linde will invest $400M in the largest air separation unit on the Mississippi River, Louisiana to supply CF Industries, JERA Co., Inc., and Mitsui & Co., Ltd.’s $4B Blue Point One plant (set to be the world’s largest low-carbon ammonia facility) with oxygen and nitrogen.

6️⃣ RYAM (Rayonier Advanced Materials) and Verso Energy have expanded their MoU for a proposed e-SAF project at RYAM’s Georgia site to include feasibility studies for CCS, renewable hydrogen, and e-fuel production.

7️⃣ Wood will deliver detailed engineering for Ecopetrol’s Clean Fuels project at the Barrancabermeja refinery, Columbia, enabling the 100 year old site to produce lower-sulphur gasoline.

Ecopetrol's refineries in ppPLUS: Entity: Ecopetrol

8️⃣ This week saw the annual London Climate Action Week. Leaders highlighted that while $2.2 trillion was deployed in clean tech in 2024, most went to advanced economies and China, leaving emerging markets underfunded. At the Net Zero Delivery Summit, Rachel Kyte, Tim Gould (International Energy Agency (IEA)), and Mafalda Duarte (Green Climate Fund) urged greater private finance mobilisation to avoid carbon lock-in in emerging markets. The UK government also launched a 10-year Modern Industrial Strategy focused on clean energy and advanced manufacturing.