A recent agreement revealed that German shipowner Hapag-Lloyd will offtake a maximum of 250,000 tonnes of biogenic and green hydrogen-based methanol per year from Goldwind, a Chinese firm.

Within the agreement, it is expected that Hapag-Lloyd will use green methanol to reduce its fleet’s greenhouse gas emissions by one-third in comparison to 2022 levels. This agreement could mean that the resulting supply could save 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions on a yearly basis.

Right now, Goldwind is forming plans to build a new green methanol factory, which will be adjacent to its existing facility based in China, specifically Hinggan. On top of this, the firm is also planning to deliver early green methanol volume in 2026.

So far, Goldwind has made excellent progress and has already started the construction of the 500,000 tons-per-year facility. This facility is planned to be completed in 2027, once it has gone through a financial investment decision (FID).

CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, Rolf Habben Jansen, commented, “As part of our strategy 2030, we are fully committed to the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement and therefore also to sustainable investments. With the agreement, we are securing a significant proportion of our requirements for green fuels. This will bring us an important step closer to our goal of achieving Net Zero fleet operations by 2045.”

Jansen also said, “It is and remains our ambition to play a leading role in the transformation of the liner shipping industry.”

Head of Goldwind Green Methanol, Liu Rixin, mentioned, “The planned new factory will share technology, utilities, facilities and infrastructures with its neighbouring sister plant, boosting production efficiency.”