Towngas Signs Green Methanol MOUs with Parties Including TLB to Support Hong Kong’s Development as Green Maritime Fuel Centre

June 30, 2025

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(Towngas) The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) today (June 25, 2025) participated in the Mainland Hong Kong Green Energy Matchmaking Event at the Central Government Offices, organised by the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Towngas signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with both the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) and Pacific Basin Shipping Limited (Pacific Basin), supporting the HKSAR Government’s initiative to develop Hong Kong as a green maritime fuel bunkering and trading centre.

Green methanol represents a near-zero carbon option for the shipping industry to comply with international green maritime fuel regulations. Green methanol produced by Towngas’s subsidiary uses scrap tyres and agricultural and forestry waste as production feedstock, and has obtained multiple international certifications, including ISCC EU, ISCC PLUS, and ISO6583. Towngas is China’s first enterprise to achieve both ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS dual certification whilst commencing large-scale green methanol production.

Under the MOU signed with the Transport and Logistics Bureau, Towngas, as a green maritime fuel producer, will actively supply marine green methanol fuel that complies with current international standards for delivery, bunkering, export, and trading in Hong Kong. The Company will use Hong Kong as a trading and settlement hub, supporting the territory’s development of a green maritime fuel trading market.

The Transport and Logistics Bureau will incorporate Towngas into Hong Kong’s green maritime fuel business cooperation platform, facilitating connections with stakeholders interested in purchasing green maritime fuel, including bunkering operators, liner companies, and other third-party enterprises or institutions, with the aim of developing green maritime fuel-related business in Hong Kong and connecting to international markets.

Simultaneously, Towngas signed an MOU with local shipping company Pacific Basin, establishing a framework for green methanol supply cooperation. Towngas will supply green methanol to Pacific Basin to help its fleet comply with EU and International Maritime Organization carbon emission reduction requirements.

To support green methanol market deployment, Towngas had earlier signed an MOU with Chimbusco in November last year, establishing a complete green methanol supply chain in Hong Kong.

Mr Peter Wong Wai-yee, Towngas Managing Director, stated, “The two MOUs signed today with the HKSAR Government and Pacific Basin mark another step forward for Towngas on the path of green energy transformation. We have consistently provided clean, sustainable fuel solutions for the global shipping industry, supporting Hong Kong’s achievement of carbon neutrality goals and assisting the Government in building a green maritime fuel bunkering centre, thereby consolidating Hong Kong’s position as an international shipping centre.”

Mr Martin Fruergaard, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Basin, said, “Our collaboration with Towngas represents important progress in our efforts to enhance our priority access to increasing and eventually very large volumes of green fuels, including green methanol, that ships will need to comply with tightening maritime decarbonisation regulations. Towngas has proven production capabilities, a strong commitment to innovation and decarbonisation, and a deep understanding of shipping’s green fuel needs which, combined with its expansion plans and role in Hong Kong and China’s green marine fuel bunkering ambitions, make Towngas an ideal partner for us.”

Towngas’s green methanol production facility is located in Inner Mongolia, where the product produced recently completed bunkering operations at Shanghai Port—the first large-scale bunkering operation and currently Asia’s largest green methanol bunkering project.

Towngas will continue to increase green methanol production capacity to meet the shipping industry’s growing demand for green methanol. The Inner Mongolia facility’s annual capacity is expected to increase from 100,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes by the end of this year. Additionally, the Group, together with Foran Energy, plans to build multiple green methanol production facilities on the mainland, targeting an annual capacity of one million tonnes. The Foshan facility is expected to achieve an initial annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes in its first phase by 2028. READ MORE

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Towngas and Royal Vopak collaborate to expand green methanol supply chain network (Towngas)

Excerpt from Towngas: In alignment with the global trend of accelerating green energy transformation, The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) and Vopak China Management Co., Ltd. (Royal Vopak) have recently signed a strategic framework cooperation agreement to collaborate in areas such as green methanol production, storage, bunkering, and trading etc. Focusing on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Asia-Pacific markets, both parties are joining forces to expand an efficient green methanol supply chain network and support the shipping industry’s low-carbon transition.

The two parties will capitalise on their respective strengths to expand the supply network of green methanol. Towngas employs proprietary technology to convert agricultural and forestry waste as well as scrap tyres into green methanol, and has obtained multiple international certifications and provides a sufficient supply of green methanol for maritime fuel bunkering. Royal Vopak provides green methanol storage and terminal services with its comprehensive storage and terminal infrastructure and coastal port network advantages. Together, the two parties will achieve efficient resource allocation and ship green methanol to the Greater Bay Area, East China, South China, and the broader Asia-Pacific markets, further expanding the green methanol supply chain network.

Towngas and Royal Vopak will further develop multiple areas of regional cooperation, including in the Greater Bay Area. By leveraging the strengths of the ports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, the partnership will focus on “production and storage synergy” as its core to strengthen cooperation around logistics and terminal facility construction, and to build an integrated green methanol storage and transportation network. In East China, the two parties will centre their collaboration in Shanghai and Ningbo, two major international ports, to further strengthen cooperation in logistics storage and bunkering facility construction to meet the growing demand for green fuels at both ports. In the Bohai Bay region, with Tianjin as the strategic hub, Towngas will transport green methanol produced at its northern China production base to Royal Vopak’s local storage tank farm, then achieve resource allocation through the Royal Vopak’s distribution network, supporting the supply of green methanol from northern China to the national and Asia-Pacific markets. The two parties will also target key export markets, such as Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea, to accelerate overseas expansion and boost the market competitiveness of clean energy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Sham Man-fai, Towngas Chief Operating Officer – Green Fuel and Chemicals, stated that this collaboration is expected to harness resource integration and complementary strengths to grasp the opportunities presented by green energy. “Towngas has recently completed a 6,000-tonne green methanol bunkering project, the largest in Asia. It was completed with the support of Royal Vopak’s Tianjin storage tank farm facilities, laying a solid foundation for this partnership. Towngas’s Inner Mongolia green methanol plant is set to increase its annual capacity from 100,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes by the end of this year, with plans to further expand to 300,000 tonnes by 2028. Together with Royal Vopak’s storage and terminal services infrastructure and coastal port network, the two parties will build a comprehensive green methanol supply chain network.”

Looking ahead, Towngas will further enhance production capacity through its green methanol platform, planning to further establish multiple green methanol production plants across the Chinese mainland, targeting an annual capacity of one million tonnes to prepare for large-scale green methanol applications.

About The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited
Founded in 1862, Towngas is the public utility with the longest history in Hong Kong and one of the city’s largest energy suppliers, with world-class corporate governance and operations. In recent years, Towngas has been actively developing clean energy solutions, including hydrogen energy, marine green methanol, and sustainable aviation fuel, striving to achieve the vision of carbon neutrality. Towngas possesses extensive experience in green methanol production, and has obtained ISCC EU, ISCC PLUS, ISO 14067 and other international certifications. Additionally, Towngas was the first enterprise on the Chinese mainland to produce ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS-certified green methanol whilst maintaining a large-scale green methanol production capacity. Currently, Towngas has developed more than 1,000 projects across 29 provincial regions in China, encompassing renewable energy solutions, piped city gas, gas resources, water supply, municipal waste utilisation projects, and emerging green energy.

About Royal Vopak
Royal Vopak is the world’s leading independent infrastructure provider with a global network of LNG, LPG and industrial terminals. Vopak contributes to energy transition, with a focus on infrastructure solutions for ammonia, CO2, battery energy storage, and sustainable fuels and feedstocks. For more than 400 years, Vopak has been focusing on safety and sustainable development and providing efficient, safe, clean and storage services, backed by advanced storage and terminal management and operational expertise. Royal Vopak has established terminals and storage tank farms in 9 China’s major coastal provinces, with storage tank capacity exceeding 3.5 million cubic metres. READ MORE