Methanol Project, Indiga Port and Snowflake Station

A new methanol plant will be built in the Nenets Autonomous District, Russia. Ruskhim, a Russian-based chemical producer, signed a contract with an engineering design agency for designing a plant capable of producing 5,000 metric tons of methanol per day, or 1.8 million tons per year. The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2025.

It is noteworthy that launching the mentioned methanol facility will likely contribute to advancing the Indiga port project, which is widely discussed in Russia in the context of developing the Northern Sea Route. The long-debated project envisages building an ice-free port on the Barents Sea located in the village of Indiga, Nenets Autonomous District. Despite numerous advantages cited by the project’s backers, it has been advancing at a too slow pace owing to unclear prospects for finding investment. As the methanol plant will require an export terminal, the Indiga project will now have better chances for being resumed, analysts believe.

According to the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, about 3 billion rubles were allocated to fund the construction of the Snowflake International Arctic Station in Yamal. Snowflake, an innovation year-round research lab, will be fully powered by renewables. It offers a platform for testing and demonstrating environmentally friendly energy solutions for remote Arctic communities and will serve as a hub for international cooperation towards a sustainable Arctic. Two such stations will be built in the Russian Arctic, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District and the Murmansk region.