Outside In | As China steers its ships onto an electric-powered course, Hong Kong has a porthole of opportunity
- The country is promoting electrification of the vessels plying its vast inland network of waterways, amid looming overcapacity in the EV battery industry
- With coastal ferries in the Pearl River Delta being heavy fossil fuel consumers, Hong Kong’s government could work with others in the region on a green transition for the sector
At the end of July, Cosco Shipping Development’s first fully-electric container ship, the 120m-long N997, capable of carrying 700 20-ft containers, was launched from Yangzhou Port.
It was not the first battery-powered cargo ship ever built. That honour goes to Norway’s Yara Birkeland, which was launched in 2021.
But Cosco’s vessel is likely to be the most significant. It is intended to operate along the Yangtze River as one of more than 100,000 passenger and freight vessels sailing throughout China’s 128,000km network of inland waterways.
An Asian Development Bank report in 2016 said China’s system of waterways, including river, coastal and ocean shipment, carried around half of the country’s freight. Its ferries, including coastal ferries, carried 273 million passengers in 2019. According to the International Council on Clean Transportation, the inland waterway shipping sector accounts for about 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
So it is perhaps long overdue that China has begun to turn seriously to electrification of its vast inland waterway fleet. According to a report in May by Sealand Securities, battery-powered vessels are expected to comprise around 21 per cent of all vessels on China’s inland waterways by 2030.