Austrian oil and gas firm OMV has started using green hydrogen-based e-methanol from European Energy and Mitsui’s Kassø project in Denmark as an input in biodiesel sold from its Burghausen refinery in Germany.
OMV claims to be the first energy company in Germany to bring renewable e-methanol into commercial road transport, marketing diesel containing a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) component produced with the fuel since mid-July.
FAME biodiesel is produced by reacting oils or fats with methanol, which becomes chemically incorporated into the resulting fuel, and can be blended into road diesel.
It comes under a multi-year offtake agreement with European Energy and Mitsui’s Kassø joint venture. European Energy told H2 View it could not confirm volumes covered by the deal.
The e-methanol supplied to OMV is certified as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) under EU rules, allowing it to be credited towards EU Renewable Energy Directive III transport requirements.
OMV Executive Vice-President Fuels and Chemicals, Martijn van Koten, said the deal was helping the ramp-up of synthetic fuels.
“By expanding our portfolio of sustainable fuel solutions, we are enabling our customers to reduce emissions and contributing to the decarbonisation of transport and logistics,” he said.
The agreement marks an expansion of end markets for Kassø’s output beyond its initial shipping and chemical customers.
Inaugurated in 2025, the facility combines biogenic carbon dioxide with green hydrogen produced by a 52MW Siemens Energy electrolyser to generate 42,000 tonnes of e-methanol annually.
OMV is the facility’s fourth publicly announced offtaker, following AP Moller–Maersk, Lego, and Novo Nordisk. Kassø’s output is already contracted for marine fuel and plastics production.
The company, alongside French utility Engie, recently won €228m ($267m) in German subsidies to expand the Kassø site to 150MW by 2030.
The expansion project was awarded per-kilogramme subsidies under a German-administered hydrogen auction.
However, the additional hydrogen production is expected to be supplied to Germany through the planned Danish-Hydrogen Backbone pipeline. Engie will hold marketing rights for 20,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.
