The methanol project, which will involve private partners and European Union funding, will see an investment of nearly €10 billion ($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 tonnes 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 Sánchez.

“Spain wants to lead the decarbonisation of maritime transport and be one of the most important green corridors of world maritime traffic,” Sánchez tweeted.