Mitsui & Co., Ltd. has acquired a 49% stake in Kasso MidCo ApS, a renewable energy company producing e-methanol. Kasso's e-methanol is a low-carbon fuel made from green hydrogen and CO2. Mitsui plans to enhance Kasso's business and collaborate with European Energy A/S to lead the global energy transition.
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenichi Hori) has agreed to acquire a 49% equity interest in Kasso MidCo ApS ("MidCo"), an affiliate of European Energy A/S ("EE", a renewable energy company headquartered in Søborg, Denmark). MidCo possesses a solar power generation and e-methanol business through Solar Park Kasso ApS ("Kasso"), its wholly owned subsidiary.
Kasso's e-methanol is a low-carbon methanol produced by synthesizing green hydrogen made by feeding renewable-based electricity into an electrolyzer and green carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from biomass sources. Demand for it is expected to grow greatly in the future as an environmentally friendly next-generation fuel and chemical raw material.
Kasso's e-methanol business is the world's largest and first commercialized effort in the world, producing up to 42,000 tons of e-methanol annually. Kasso has already constructed facilities for photovoltaic power generation (304MW) which is the largest one in the Northern Europe and is under construction of water electrolyzer and e-methanol factory. Production is scheduled to start in 2024. Kasso has concluded sales agreements with leading Danish companies, including shipping and logistics company A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S, the LEGO Group and pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S.
Mitsui will leverage its expertise in chemicals, renewable energy, shipping, and other industries, including in the existing methanol production and sales business, to enhance the competitiveness of the Kasso business. At the same time, Mitsui will deepen its strategic partnership with EE through Kasso and target further collaboration in future business between EE and Mitsui.
In Mitsui's Medium-term Management Plan 2026, we have designated Global Energy Transition as one of our key strategies. In the course of building a next-generation fuel value chain, we assume that there would be some difficulties in certain kinds of applications to use green hydrogen produced from renewable electricity and clean ammonia. In such cases, we believe that e-methanol will be one of the viable options. In combination with our U.S. bio-methanol business, we will take bold steps to lead the world's energy transition by strengthening the supply capability of low-carbon methanol and thereby contribute to the sustainable development of the whole of society.