CPN and Towngas ink green methanol deal to promote Hong Kong’s green marine fuel action plan

Bunker service provider Chimbusco Pan Nation Petro-Chemical (CPN) has formed a partnership with Hong Kong and China Gas Company (Towngas) to develop domestic and international green methanol marine fuel markets and promote Hong Kong as a green marine fuel center.

To this end, CPN and Towngas recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on green methanol fuel distribution. Under the agreement, Towngas will supply CPN with its self-produced ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS-certified green methanol and CPN will be in charge of distributing the green methanol to its customers.

Towngas will also provide support in handling technical enquiries and providing product certification documents.

Towngas is said to be the first enterprise on the Chinese mainland to receive ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS certifications for green methanol. The company owns a methanol production plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, which uses proprietary technology to convert biomass and municipal waste into green methanol.

Production is expected to reach 150,000 tonnes annually in 2025, serving both the maritime and chemical industries. The company plans to retrofit the existing facilities to gradually increase the annual production capacity to 300,000 tonnes, supporting the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s target to reach net-zero carbon emissions from international shipping by or around 2050.

Edmund Yeung Lui-ming, Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of Towngas, commented on the MoU: “Towngas is committed to expanding its green methanol production capacity and, through industry collaboration, responding to the Government’s recently promulgated Action Plan on Green Maritime Fuel Bunkering to contribute to Hong Kong’s development as a green maritime fuel bunkering centre.”

Calvin Chung Dik-hong, Director & Deputy General Manager of CPN, said: “Implementing green methanol development is a crucial step in realising the Action Plan on Green Maritime Fuel Bunkering. As Hong Kong’s largest bunker fuel supplier and trading house, CPN actively pursues long-term development plans for alternative marine fuels with partners, helping to strengthen and enhance Hong Kong’s maritime industry advantages and contribute to establishing Hong Kong as a green port.”

The government laid out the Action Plan on Green Maritime Fuel Bunkering on November 15, 2024, setting out clear strategies and actions to promote the development of Hong Kong into a high-quality green maritime fuel bunkering center.

The objectives include following the emission reduction target set by the IMO to reach net-zero carbon emissions from international shipping by or around 2050; reducing carbon emissions from Hong Kong-registered ships by at least 11% (compared to 2019) and ensuring that 55% of the diesel-fueled vessels in the government fleet switch to using green maritime fuels by 2026; and reducing carbon emissions from the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals by 30% (compared to 2021), as well as ensuring that 7% of Hong Kong-registered ships take up green maritime fuels by 2030.

To achieve these targets, the Action Plan lists five green-centric strategies and ten actions, covering a wide range of areas such as the supply of green maritime fuels, infrastructural support, port emissions reduction, incentive measures, collaboration with the Mainland and overseas, and talent training.

With the timely implementation of the Action Plan, the government expects that Hong Kong will provide bunkering services to ocean-going vessels powered by green maritime fuels such as LNG or green methanol for over 60 times a year by 2030, involving over 200,000 tonnes of green maritime fuels.