Against the backdrop of the 20th CPC Central Committee’s Fourth Plenum outlining the development blueprint for the “16th Five-Year Plan” and the nation’s accelerated push for green energy transition, on October 30th, the Jilin Electric Power Share Co., Ltd. Green Methanol Demonstration Project in Lishu, spearheaded by Jilin Electric Power Share Co., Ltd. (Jidian Stock) under the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), and jointly invested in by COSCO Shipping and Shanghai International Port Group, commenced its high-quality construction phase in Siping, Jilin. This project is China’s first green methanol demonstration project to integrate the entire chain of “green methanol production – fuel bunkering – ocean shipping”.
This initiative not only pioneers a completely new model for central and state-owned enterprises to jointly build a green liquid fuel industry chain, but also provides a replicable closed-loop solution for China’s green shipping, injecting strong momentum into cultivating new quality productive forces and achieving the “dual carbon” goals.
The project closely aligns with the national strategy of “accelerating the development of new quality productive forces and building a new energy system”. Relying on SPIC’s “16th Five-Year Plan” industrial development path for green hydrogen-based energy, it utilizes wind power for hydrogen production coupled with biomass carbon sources to produce methanol. This achieves flexible coordination between new energy and chemical production, promoting the chemical industry’s independence from fossil fuel dependence. Upon completion, it will produce 197,200 tons of green methanol annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 300,000 tons per year. It not only constructs a complete industrial chain for shipping decarbonization but also, through innovative “electricity-hydrogen-chemicals” system integration, aids the energy industry upgrade in Northeast China, becoming a key demonstration for the region in implementing energy security and the “dual carbon” goals.
Why is “Green Methanol” Important?
The shipping industry faces immense decarbonization pressure. Green methanol, being liquid at room temperature and pressure, is easy to store and transport, emits no sulfur oxides or particulate matter after combustion, and its production feedstock consists of green hydrogen from water electrolysis using /solar power and carbon sources from biomass, significantly reducing its full lifecycle carbon footprint. It has become an ideal alternative to traditional marine fuels.
“The core significance of the project lies in connecting the entire chain ‘from wind to methanol’, providing a replicable and scalable model for local strategies like ‘green hydrogen+’,” said the project leader. By converting unstable wind power resources into stable green liquid fuel, it not only solves the challenge of new energy consumption but also expands the application scenarios of clean energy from land to sea, adding a “green insurance” for national energy security.
How is it Technologically Innovative?
The project’s advancement lies in its “cross-border integration” approach. It innovatively adopts a coupled technological route of “wind power for green hydrogen production + biomass gasification for syngas production”. Through coordinated electricity-hydrogen design and a flexible control system, it pioneers a new path for “electricity-hydrogen-chemicals” flexible coordination, achieving an industry breakthrough of “no shutdown during windless periods”. This effectively mitigates the impact of new energy volatility on chemical production, further enhancing system stability and economy, and promoting efficient energy and resource recycling.
First, core technology application innovation. The project innovatively integrates comprehensive agricultural waste utilization with green energy production, establishing a complete chain from biomass resources to green fuel. Using straw as raw material, it employs biomass carbon production and gasification technologies on a large scale, effectively addressing the pollution from straw burning, achieving energy-oriented upgrading of agricultural waste, and providing key technical support for the high-quality and standardized utilization of biomass resources.
Second, system operation mode innovation. The project establishes an integrated “electricity-hydrogen-chemicals” flexible regulation system. Through coordinated control across multiple links including hydrogen storage, shift conversion, grid power, and gasifiers, it achieves seamless integration of new energy and chemical production. Simultaneously, the project adopts a large-scale wind power self-consumption model with a high proportion. When wind power is abundant, electricity is used for hydrogen production via electrolysis and stored; during short-term windless periods, hydrogen is supplied from storage tanks; for extended windless periods, the chemical plant adjusts its load, ensuring uninterrupted hydrogen supply and system operation without shutdown, effectively overcoming the constraints of new energy volatility on chemical production.
Third, industrial synergy path innovation. The project organically combines hydrogen energy technology with traditional chemical processes. Through the synergy of dynamic hydrogen /storage and chemical processes, introducing green hydrogen as a supplement, and leveraging the load regulation advantages of syngas shift conversion and the flexible characteristics of gaseous hydrogen storage, it effectively mitigates fluctuation risks in the chemical synthesis process, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the entire system.
How does the Region Benefit?
The implementation of this major project will become a vivid practice in revitalizing Northeast China’s old industrial base and advancing socialist modernization. It is reported that the project will directly create over 500 jobs during its construction and operation phases, and drive the development of related industrial chains such as biomass collection, storage, transportation, equipment manufacturing, and technical services, forming an industrial cluster effect.
Particularly noteworthy is its high technological content and forward-looking positioning, which are becoming a “strong magnet” for attracting talent back. A number of professionals in the energy and chemical sectors who had previously moved to southeastern coastal areas are choosing to return home for employment because of this project, writing a vivid footnote for Jilin’s “attracting phoenixes back to the nest” strategy.
Why is Hyglobal · Green Methanol Important?
Following the operation of the world’s largest single green ammonia project in Da’an, Jilin in July, the Lishu Green Methanol Project becomes another key piece in SPIC’s “Hyglobal” brand matrix.
Yang Yufeng, Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of Jilin Electric Power Share Co., Ltd., stated that the Lishu project is an important beginning in laying out the green liquid fuel track. Its unique value lies in being the first to innovatively couple Jilin’s abundant /solar resources with biomass resources to produce green methanol that can directly serve ocean shipping decarbonization. “This not only opens up the huge green energy market of shipping for us but also explores a new path of synergistic development where new energy empowers traditional industries and agricultural resources assist the energy transition.”
The launch of the project is not just a beginning, but a declaration of an industry – in Northeast China, an energy revolution driven by technological innovation and underpinned by green development is surging, contributing Eastern wisdom and Chinese strength to global sustainable development.
As the project enters the full construction phase, a “Song of Green Methanol” composed with “wind and light” will gradually play out across the Songliao Plain.
