Japan’s Mitsubishi Group will build a methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) plant in Trinidad and Tobago at an investment cost of roughly $1 billion, project officials confirmed on Monday.

The project will be operated by Caribbean Gas Chemical, which will be jointly owned by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. (25.26%), Mitsubishi Corp. (26.25%), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (17.5%) and Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned National Gas Co. (NGC) (20.0%) and Trinidad-based Massy Holdings (10.0%).

The project, scheduled for completion in June 2018 and to start up by October 2018, would have a capacity of 1 million tpy of methanol and 20,000 tpy of DME.

The partners say they will also work closely with the government of Trinidad and Tobago to promote the use of dimethyl ether as a substitute for diesel in Trinidad and Tobago and in other Caribbean countries.

The partners said they have already concluded contracts for EPC (engineering, procurement andconstruction), gas supply, and relevant land leases. Additionally, discussions are currently underway with a syndicate of Japanese banks for finalizing the loan agreement, according to project officials.

Plant design and construction will be undertaken by MHI.

The methanol would be sold worldwide, according to the partners.