Green milestone ahead for Shanghai Electric's boiler works
The month of July will witness a milestone in the transformation of Shanghai Boiler Works Co Ltd as the firm looks to secure a green future.
The unit under state-owned Shanghai Electric will launch China's first batch of domestically produced and commercially viable green methanol next month, marking a great step forward in addressing the world's clean fuel issue and China's target of peaking carbon emission by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
"We have signed a contract with French shipping giant CMA CGM to purchase all our green methanol when it is produced," said Ni Jianjun, deputy general manager of Shanghai Boiler Works, during a media tour on the sidelines of the 2025 Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Expo, earlier this week.
"It is a milestone because very few companies around the world can manage a complete production cycle of methanol but the demand for the green fuel far exceeds supply," Ni said.
The green methanol project of Shanghai Boiler Works Co Ltd has passed the pilot-scale experiment.
Green methanol uses renewable energy sources such as wind power and biomass, offering a cleaner alternative to conventional marine fuels.
Global demand for this sustainable chemical, or clean energy, is expected to reach tens of millions of tons by 2030 amid carbon neutrality efforts, while the current annual output is only about a few hundred thousand tons.
It is still a small fraction of the solution for carbon reduction because it requires producers to combine technologies with resources and facilities, which means big investment in the initial stages.
"We are a pioneer in this regard," Ni said.
The headquarters of Shanghai Boiler Works, located in Minhang District, is home to a batch of R&D centers.
With an initial investment of 5.6 billion yuan (US$778 million) by Shanghai Electric in March 2024, the green methanol will be produced in an integrated facility in Taonan, northeast China's Jilin Province.
The plant features the world's first pure-oxygen pressurized fluidized-bed biomass gasification system, developed independently by domestic scientists.
In March, Shanghai Electric entered into a long-term supply deal with CMA CGM, which laid the foundation for large-scale commercial production.
The first batch of 50,000-ton green methanol will be delivered to Shanghai Port, the world's largest port by container throughput, for bunkering in July and the capacity is expected to reach 250,000 tons in 2027.
The exhibition space of Shanghai Boiler Works at the recent 2025 Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Expo shows the green methanol project.
The green methanol project is just a part of Shanghai Boiler Works' many efforts to transform from a traditional equipment manufacturer to a comprehensive energy solution provider.
With a history that can be traced back to 1906 and starting as one of China's first companies to design and manufacture power station boilers, Shanghai Boiler Works is now involved in a long list of research and development projects, including coal power, hydrogen and solar energy, as well as carbon capture unitization and storage.
"We are a technology-driven company, and we aim to be top-notch in China and first-class in the world with our core technologies," Ni said.
Shanghai Boiler Works has a team of highly-skilled scientists and researchers.
