On the afternoon of August 3, the inaugural conference of the country’s first Methanol-Hydrogen Ship Industry Technology Innovation Alliance was grandly held in Jiaxing. The alliance, led by Zhejiang Yada Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd., was jointly established by more than 30 units from the upstream and downstream industrial chain, including ship design, power systems, fuel supply, shipbuilding, shipping, finance, and scientific research, aiming to promote technological innovation and industrial application of methanol-hydrogen ships and accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of inland waterway shipping.
The conference, themed “Moving Toward Green, Methanol Energy Reaches Far,” attracted representatives from more than a hundred shipbuilding, design and R&D, and supporting enterprises from within and outside the province to gather together to explore new paths for green ship development. Li Renxin, President of the Zhejiang Provincial Shipbuilding Industry Association, was invited to attend and deliver a speech, and together with Jiang Zhengui, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee, Dai Ming, Vice Chairman of the Jiaxing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, and other leaders, jointly unveiled the alliance plaque, witnessing the official establishment of the Zhejiang Methanol-Hydrogen Ship Industry Innovation Platform.
At the event, alliance member units signed strategic cooperation agreements covering key links such as ship design, power supporting, fuel supply, and operation and maintenance services. In the future, alliance member units will focus on advancing the formulation of group standards for the design, construction, inspection, bunkering, and operation and maintenance of methanol-hydrogen ships, and will organize member units to jointly apply for provincial and national major scientific research projects, consolidating the industrial foundation through standard leadership and technological breakthroughs.
As a leading green energy equipment enterprise cultivated locally in Xinfeng Town, Nanhu District, Yada Green Energy was established in 1993 and has long been focused on the R&D of marine dual-fuel supply systems, high-end special pipelines, and integrated energy equipment solutions, accumulating profound technology and experience in the field of marine and offshore supporting equipment.
At present, Yada Green Energy has obtained certifications from nine major classification societies and 39 international certifications, and holds 116 patents of various types. Its products have been successfully applied in major projects such as the world’s largest LNG dual-fuel container ship and Antarctic scientific research vessels. In recent years, the company has continuously expanded its R&D of green fuel delivery equipment for methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen, continuously leading the industry’s zero-carbon transformation.
Guo Jun, Head of Yada’s Inland Waterway Division, stated that methanol-hydrogen ship technology converts green methanol, a “liquid electricity,” into clean power generation through an efficient conversion system. Compared with traditional fuels such as gasoline and diesel, methanol has advantages including superior environmental performance, good economic viability, and ease of storage and transportation, making it especially suitable for inland waterway ship application scenarios characterized by shallow draft, compact space, and large fleet numbers.
Xiang Guangqing, Chairman of Yada Green Energy, pointed out that the current standard system for inland methanol-hydrogen ships is not yet complete, and shipyards face the dilemma of “daring not to take orders and not knowing how to build.” The establishment of the alliance can effectively resolve these common challenges and provide a systematic solution path for clean energy substitution in inland waterway shipping.
On the day the alliance was established, Yada Green Energy simultaneously completed the delivery of its first inland waterway ship methanol supply system. The system transplants advanced technology, mature experience, and strict standards from the ocean-going ship sector to inland waterway scenarios, and has undergone systematic redesign to address the characteristics of inland vessels such as shallow draft, small space, and large batch production. It has obtained the first product certificate for an inland waterway ship methanol supply system issued by the Shanghai Branch of the China Classification Society (CCS), providing institutional support for the standardized development of inland methanol-powered equipment.
As a major water transport province, Zhejiang’s inland waterway navigable mileage is nearly 10,000 kilometers, and in 2025 the cargo throughput of inland ports reached 441 million tons, ranking among the top in the country. The enormous scale of water transport provides abundant application scenarios for the practical application of methanol-hydrogen ship technology. At present, demonstration projects adopting methanol technology, such as the vessel “Yuanchun 001” and the vessel “Dingli Ji 001,” have been successfully launched and operated in Zhejiang Province, and the industrial ecosystem is becoming increasingly mature.
The establishment of the Zhejiang Methanol-Hydrogen Ship Industry Technology Innovation Alliance is an important milestone in the development of the domestic methanol-hydrogen ship industry. With the deepening operation of the alliance, Zhejiang is expected to take the lead in forming replicable and promotable methanol-hydrogen ship application models in the Yangtze River Delta and along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Qiantang River basin, providing a reference for the green and low-carbon transformation of inland waterway shipping nationwide.
