An offtake agreement between A.P. Moller - Maersk and Chinese developer Goldwind, a global leader in clean energy, reaches into the next decade and marks the first large scale green methanol offtake agreement for the global shipping industry.

This deal is a milestone for Maersk as it enables it to reduce its emissions footprint significantly in this decade and stay aligned with the 1.5-degree Celsius trajectory as set out in the Paris Agreement, said Rabab Raafat Boulos, Chief Infrastructure Officer at A.P. Moller - Maersk.

A.P. Moller - Maersk aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 across its business. The deal significantly de-risks the initial stages of Maersk’s net-zero journey and supports expectations for a competitive green methanol market towards 2030. The record-high volumes can annually propel more than half the methanol-enabled capacity Maersk currently has on order.

The volumes combine a mix of green bio-methanol and e-methanol, all produced utilizing wind energy at a new production facility in Hinggan League, Northeast China, around 1000 km northeast of Beijing. Production is expected to begin in 2026. Following this signed offtake agreement, Goldwind expects to confirm a final investment decision for the facility by the end of the year.

A.P. Moller - Maersk will take delivery of its first large ocean-going methanol-enabled vessel (16,000 TEU) in the first quarter of 2024 and is diligently working on sourcing solutions with a broad range of global partners for the entire vessel series being delivered in 2024-25.