Hapag-Lloyd has reached an agreement with Goldwind, a clean energy company headquartered in Beijing, China, to deliver 250,000 tonnes of green methanol per year.

The green methanol will consist of a blend of bio- and e-methanol, ensuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction of at least 70%, and comply with all current sustainability certification requirements.

"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," said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG.

"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," he added, noting that it is and remains the carrier's ambition to play a leading role in the transformation of the liner shipping industry.

By 2030, Hapag-Lloyd aims to reduce the fleet's absolute GHG emissions by around one-third compared to 2022.

Compared to conventional fuels, the ordered quantity of green methanol can save up to 400,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions in fleet operations per year.

Goldwind is planning to build a new green methanol factory adjacent to its existing project in Hinggan League, China.

Meanwhile, Goldwind will additionally deliver early volume scheduled in 2026.

"We are honoured to have reached this agreement with Hapag-Lloyd. This collaboration proves once again that Goldwind can win the trust of one of the most important shipping companies. We are grateful for the opportunity to become a strong decarbonization partner of Hapag-Lloyd, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality ahead of the shipping industry targets and aligns closely with Goldwind's corporate vision," said Wu Gang, chairman of Goldwind.

Liu Rixin, head of Goldwind Green Methanol, noted that the planned new factory will share technology, utilities, facilities and infrastructures with its neighbouring sister plant, boosting production efficiency.

"It is still subject to the financial investment decision of the Goldwind Board. We anticipate the completion of a megaton green methanol base in Hinggan League in late 2027," Rixin added.

Jan Christensen, senior director of Global Fuel Purchasing at Hapag-Lloyd, noted that green methanol represents a key pathway within Hapag-Lloyd's multi-fuel strategy to achieve sustainable shipping solutions.

Among other things, the five 10,100 TEU charter ships that Hapag-Lloyd and Seaspan are converting to a suitable methanol dual-fuel propulsion system in 2026 will be powered by green methanol.

In addition to the recent investment decision for 24 new container ships with low-emission dual-fuel liquefied natural gas engines announced on November 6, the investment in green methanol is another step in Hapag-Lloyd’s efforts to prepare itself for a multi-fuel future and to drive the decarbonization of the liner shipping industry.