Maersk plans large-scale green fuel production in Spain

Global shipping giant Maersk signed an agreement Thursday with the Spanish government to develop large-scale production of green fuel in Spain for its worldwide fleet.

The methanol project, which will involve private partners and European Union funding, will see an investment of nearly 10 billion euros ($9.75 billion), a government statement said.

Two production sites will be built in Spain expected to create 85,000 direct and indirect jobs.

One will be in the northwestern Galicia region, the other in Andalusia in the south.

The project could produce up to two million tons of green fuels per year, Maersk said in a statement.

"We are living in a climate emergency, and we need to rapidly accelerate the availability of green future fuels," Maersk chief executive officer Soren Skou said.

Spain was picked because it has "significant renewable resources and is placed along key shipping routes," he added.

The project will help the Danish company, the world's second-largest container shipping firm, to achieve its goal of producing net zero emissions by 2040.

Maersk plans to make green methanol, which is produced by using renewable sources such as biomass and solar energy, at several sites around the world, including Egypt.

The agreement to produce green methanol in Spain was signed in Madrid by Skou and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

"Spain wants to lead the decarburization of maritime transport and be one of the most important green corridors of world maritime traffic," Sanchez tweeted.