COSCO Shipping Collaborating with SPIC to Deploy Green Methanol in Maritime Transport
(Shanghai, China) On Sep 20th, China COSCO Shipping, State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), and China Certification and Inspection Group signed a MOU to jointly develop green methanol industry, signaling a milestone that the maritime green methanol industry enters construction stage.
COSCO Shipping is the world largest shipping company, as of 1H2023, it operates a fleet of 1,372 vessels with a capacity of 111 million DWT, ranking No.1 in the world. Its container fleet capacity is 3.04 million TEU, ranking the third globally. The company has released its decarbonization roadmap that it will achieve carbon neutral by 2060, in accordance with China’s national target. Green methanol, made from green hydrogen, is regarded as a practical method to reduce emissions.
In Oct 2022, COSCO Shipping announced it will purchase 12 28,000TEU container ship which will be capable using green methanol 2022, the deliveries are due from 2026 to 2028. With this container fleet put into operation, COSCO shipping would become world biggest green methanol consumer in maritime sector.
SPIC, or State Power Investment Corporation Limited, is one of China's five largest power generation groups, with businesses covering centralized power and heat generation, consumer-side integrated smart energy, and green power to X facilities. SPIC’s power generation assets include PV, wind, nuclear, hydro, coal, gas and biomass, with PV power capacity ranking 1st in the world. Ranking 260th among the Fortune Global 500, SPIC is committed to become a world-class clean energy enterprise with global competitiveness.
SPIC has committed significant investment into green hydrogen production. As of August 2023, it has 3 projects under construction at Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Jilin province. When fully operational, these 3 plants would generate over 50,000 ton green hydrogen per annum, which will be used to produce green ammonia or green methanol for deployment. The collaboration with COSCO Shipping will secure crucial intake for these low carbon fuels.
In 2019, China’s coastal shipping sector emitted about 45 million ton of CO2, or roughly 4.5% of total CO2 emissions from China’s transportation sector. ICCT forecasted that with no additional policies, CO2 emissions from China’s domestic coastal shipping would more than triple to 162 million ton in 2060. Decarbonize shipping sector is a tough work while green methanol is now on the way.