286亿元与17万吨绿色甲醇：辽源“绿氢+”项目进入投产前联动调试28.6 billion yuan and 170,000 tons of green methanol: Liaoyuan 'green hydrogen' project enters pre-production coordinated testing

Ma Xingchuan

Just after the National Day holiday, in the chemical industrial park of Liaoyuan, Jilin, 12 hydrogen storage tanks, 2 buffer tanks, and 16 electrolyzers have been installed in place. According to local announcements, the Liaoyuan Tianying Wind-Power Hydrogen Storage and Ammonia-Methanol Integrated Project, under China Tianying, has entered the pre-production sprint stage. Equipment installation and system debugging are progressing simultaneously, and core processes such as electrolytic hydrogen production, methanol synthesis, and wind power transmission have all entered commissioning, with multiple auxiliary systems ready for operation.

The scale of this project is rare in its category: with a total investment of 28.6 billion yuan, it is a landmark project for the 'green hydrogen' industry in Jilin Province, and also the first 10-billion-level industrial project introduced to Liaoyuan. The project is built on the ecological restoration of abandoned mining pits and follows an integrated approach of 'mine pit ecological management + wind and solar power generation + hydrogen storage and methanol production.' Phase I plans to produce 20,000 tons of green hydrogen and 170,000 tons of green methanol.

What truly makes it repeatedly mentioned in the industry is its technological route. The project uses renewable energy such as wind power to produce green hydrogen, while capturing carbon dioxide from biomass utilization, then directly synthesizing methanol from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide. According to public information, this is the first large-scale e-methanol project in China to adopt a pure "green hydrogen + carbon dioxide" route, and it is also one of the largest single-unit e-methanol facilities under construction in the world, clearly distinguishing it from routes that rely in part on fossil syngas to supplement carbon.

In terms of construction progress, the civil engineering in the chemical industrial park has reached 95% completion, and all equipment has been ordered, with about 30% of the equipment previously installed; units such as the hydrogen production workshop, hydrogen storage sphere area, biomass power plant, and central control room are already capable of integrated operation. The project is planned to start production in the fourth quarter of 2026, and upon completion, it will become the first gigawatt-level green hydrogen production base in Northeast China, helping the park achieve a carbon emission reduction of more than 90%.

Turning green hydrogen into methanol addresses two long-standing issues: storage and utilization. Hydrogen is difficult to transport over long distances, while methanol is a liquid under normal temperature and pressure, allowing it to directly use the existing chemical logistics system. Once green methanol enters the international shipping fuel market, its price and demand will have a new benchmark, no longer relying solely on the domestic chemical pricing logic.

Jilin has already been testing this channel. This year, the Shanghai Electric Taonan Green Methanol Project's product was loaded onto a methanol dual-fuel container ship at Shanghai Yangshan Port, marking the entry of Jilin's green methanol into large-scale international shipping applications. Subsequently, Shanghai, Jilin, and Liaoning launched a joint initiative to build a 'green fuel transportation corridor,' where green methanol produced in Jilin is transported by land to Dalian Port for transit storage, then loaded onto specialized chemical ships to reach Shanghai Port for final refueling. The full chain of 'Jilin production — Dalian transit — Shanghai refueling' has thus been completed. Once the Taonan project reaches full production, it can consume approximately 1 million tons of biomass per year.

Jilin's layout for green fuels is not limited to methanol. Public information shows that the region is simultaneously advancing projects such as Jidain's 10,000-ton green aviation fuel and Zhongmei's 300,000-ton green methanol. In Taonan, there is a focus on promoting the start of construction for Shanghai Electric's 200,000-ton and Huaneng's 300,000-ton green methanol projects, as well as establishing local equipment manufacturing for electrolyzers and carbon fiber blades, attempting to keep the 'green electricity—green hydrogen—green chemicals' chain within the province as much as possible.

Liaoyuan, located in western Jilin, is one of the few regions in the country that possesses a combination of 'wind and solar resources + biomass resources + chemical industrial parks.' Take Baicheng as an example: during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the installed capacity of renewable energy reached 19.1 million kilowatts, making it the first city in Northeast China with a renewable energy power generation capacity of over ten million kilowatts, and it was included in the first batch of national pilot areas for hydrogen energy in the energy sector. Locally, the strategy of 'wind-solar-thermal storage + integrated green hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol' has been adopted as a long-term goal, aiming to produce 200,000 to 300,000 tons of hydrogen and 2 million tons of green chemicals by 2030.

However, the commercial closed loop of green methanol still faces two challenges. The first is the carbon source: the pure 'green hydrogen + carbon dioxide' route requires a stable supply of biomass carbon sources, and the cost of biomass collection, storage, transportation, and pre-treatment directly determines the cost of methanol. The second is the premium: whether green methanol can consistently achieve a price higher than fossil methanol depends on the enforcement of international shipping emission reduction rules and the long-term purchasing willingness of buyers—both of which are not entirely determined by the producers.

At the same time, domestic green methanol production capacity under construction is rapidly accumulating. Besides Jilin, several coastal and western provinces are also promoting projects for methanol from electricity and green aviation fuel. If the demand from international shipping does not materialize as expected, homogenized competition may precede profitability, which is a risk that needs to be anticipated before the projects start production.

Why Liaoyuan? It's worth asking. The western part of Jilin has considerable wind and solar resources, and at the same time is a traditional chemical and agricultural area, with accumulated industries and talent reserves in basic chemicals such as synthetic ammonia and methanol; the long-standing local pressure to utilize resources also makes 'turning electricity into chemicals' a natural choice. The most practical path for green hydrogen-coupled chemicals is to combine cheap green electricity, available carbon sources, and existing synthesis facilities, rather than building an entirely new industrial chain from scratch. This has also been the common logic behind the concentration of several green hydrogen projects in Northeast China in recent years.

"Behind the three characters 'integration' lies actually the goal of solving an engineering challenge: the output of wind and solar power is fluctuating, while chemical synthesis units are most afraid of frequent start-ups and shutdowns. The project uses 16 electrolyzers, supported by hydrogen and energy storage facilities, which essentially adds a 'buffer' between the power source and the chemical units. This not only ensures the stable operation of the synthesis process but also maximizes the utilization of the electrolyzers. The success of this design directly determines whether the project's actual output can reach the design value — the economics of green hydrogen projects often do not depend on the nameplate capacity but on the annual operating hours."

The certainty for buyers comes from the international market. The main current application of green methanol is as fuel for international shipping. Buyers have strict accounting requirements for carbon intensity, and the product must undergo full lifecycle carbon footprint certification before it can be included in procurement lists. This means that the real test of a project is not the day it is completed and put into production, but whether it can continuously obtain certification and lock in long-term procurement agreements after production begins. The price depends on three variables: the cost of green electricity, the utilization hours of the electrolyzer, and the methanol selling price. Any fluctuation in one of these variables can significantly change the project’s return.

Risks also need to be taken seriously. The first is schedule risk. An integrated project involves multiple stages such as power supply, hydrogen production, synthesis, and storage and transportation; delays in any one stage will push back the overall timeline. The second is cost risk. Currently, the cost of green hydrogen is still higher than coal-based hydrogen, so it requires sufficiently low green electricity prices and high equipment utilization to break even. The third is market risk. Several provinces in China are planning green methanol, and in the coming years, supply could be released in a concentrated manner before demand grows. For the Liaoyuan project, securing binding long-term purchase agreements before production starts is more worth attention than how much capacity is built.

The logistics constraints of inland projects are easily overlooked, yet they directly affect the success or failure of a project. The transportation costs of green hydrogen and green methanol are highly related to distance. Located inland, Liaoyuan needs to transport its products via road or rail to coastal ports or downstream chemical customers, and these costs directly erode project profits. Therefore, when selecting a site for an integrated project, in addition to considering wind and solar resources and chemical infrastructure, it is also necessary to account for the product's transportation radius and storage and transportation facility conditions. Whether a portion of the products can be consumed nearby or whether a mutual supply relationship can be formed with surrounding chemical parks often determines the project's actual competitiveness.

From synchronized commissioning to stable production, there is usually still a considerable distance to cover. According to the plan, Phase I, with 20,000 tons of green hydrogen and 170,000 tons of green methanol, is expected to reach the production milestone in the fourth quarter. Whether this capacity can be translated into stable shipments as scheduled will be the first window to observe the maturity of Jilin's 'green hydrogen' model.

Source: China Jilin Net, People's Daily, Jilin Provincial Government Portal, and publicly available industry data.

[Research support institutions: Energy and Dual-Carbon Research Center, China Industry Newspaper | China Energy Industry Development Network]