European Commission provides funding for Pärnu Airport methanol plant project
On Tuesday, the European Commission announced that it will allocate €2.9 billion in funding to 61 zero-emission technology projects, including a methanol plant at Pärnu Airport.
Margot Holts, communications manager at Tallinn Airport, confirmed that a company planning to build a green hydrogen and methanol production complex at Pärnu Airport had received the grant.
Tallinn Airport promised to disclose the name and country of origin of the company to ERR as soon as possible.
The Pärnu methanol plant was one of 19 projects supported by the European Commission with funds totaling €459 million.
According to the European Commission's description, the company plans to produce low-carbon e-methanol for maritime transport and pollution-free hydrogen for land transport.
In April, ERR revealed that Tallinn Airport wants to build a hydrogen and methanol production complex on the territory of Pärnu Airport. In the spring, the airport submitted an application to Tori Municipality, where Pärnu Airport is located, to initiate a detailed planning procedure.
Riivo Tuvike, a member of the airport's management board, also said at that time that a potential investor for the production complex had been found.
According to Tori Municipality, the detailed planning procedure for the production complex has now been initiated.
The application to initiate the detailed planning procedure stated that a hydrogen electrolyzer, a methanol synthesis plant and storage facilities for them are planned for the production complex.
"The detailed plan we are drawing up covers a fairly large area. We are also discussing solar parks and part of the production complex. We have a lot of land at Pärnu Airport that can be put to good use. The whole idea, perhaps the background to it, is ultimately to generate additional revenue for Pärnu Airport, which would make it possible to manage Pärnu Airport better," Tuvike explained.
Tuvike said in April that there was a developer interested in production, but it was too early to talk about it in more detail.
EU investment
The European Commission is allocating a total of €2.9 billion to 61 net-zero technology projects, including the methanol plant to be built in Pärnu.
The funding will come from the EU's Innovation Fund, using revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The funding decisions were made on the basis of the first zero-net technology project competition (IF24) announced in 2024, with the aim of strengthening Europe's technological leadership and accelerating the adoption of innovative carbon solutions.
The project supported by Estonia will create a fully sustainable e-methanol value chain based on the synthesis of renewable energy, pollution-free hydrogen, and methanol. The plan is to produce low-carbon e-methanol for maritime transport and pollution-free hydrogen for land transport.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Michael Cole
