The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) announced that Golden Island Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based bunker supplier, will procure Towngas’s green methanol for its bunkering operations in Singapore.
This agreement extends Towngas’s green methanol supply network across Asia. Under the arrangement, Towngas will supply ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS-certified green methanol to Golden Island’s new Singapore-flagged bunker tanker, Golden Antares.
The vessel, scheduled to depart a Chinese shipyard by late April, will collect the methanol from Towngas and return to Singapore for bunkering trials starting in July 2025.
Golden Antares, with a 6,500-tonne methanol capacity and equipped with mass flowmeters, will deliver the cargo to a Singapore-operated terminal.
The bunkering operations will comply with Singapore’s Technical Reference (TR) 129 on Methanol Bunkering.
Mr. Tomohiro Yamano, General Manager of the Marine Fuel Department at Golden Island, said, “We are planning for Golden Antares to lift the green methanol from Towngas, which has obtained ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS certifications, before sailing back to Singapore for bunkering trials. With this arrangement in place, we ensure that green methanol marine fuel, provided by Golden Island, offers Carbon Intensity savings of more than 75% compared to conventional Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil.”
Towngas produces its green methanol at a facility in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, using technology to convert biomass and municipal waste. The plant, the first in mainland China to achieve ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS certifications, has a current annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes, expected to rise to 150,000 tonnes by the end of 2025.
Towngas has also signed a “Cooperation Framework Agreement for Green Fuel and Chemical Projects” with Foran Energy Group Company Limited, aiming to raise RMB10 billion to establish multiple green methanol production bases in China, targeting a combined capacity of 1 million tonnes annually.
The Foshan plant’s initial capacity is projected at 200,000 tonnes by 2028. In January 2025, Towngas entered a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-based Global Energy Trading Pte Ltd to advance green methanol supply and distribution as a marine fuel.
Founded in 1862, Towngas is a major energy company headquartered in Hong Kong. It primarily supplies town gas to Hong Kong and mainland China but has expanded into renewable energy, including green methanol production. Its facility in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, converts biomass and waste into methanol, making it a pioneer in ISCC-certified green methanol in China. Towngas is focused on sustainable energy solutions and aims to support decarbonization efforts in various sectors, including maritime.
Established in 1982, Golden Island is a Singapore-based bunker supplier with over 40 years of experience in the marine fuel industry. It was the first in Singapore to supply low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) 0.5% in 2019. The company is now investing in methanol bunkering operations, aiming to provide sustainable fuel options in Singapore by 2025.