Northwest Europe at the forefront of e-fuel production – T&E
Spain, Denmark, Norway and France are at the forefront of European green fuels production for maritime use, a recent study conducted by Transport & Environment (T&E) has shown.
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T&E’s study has identified up to 80 green hydrogen and e-fuel projects with potential to supply the maritime sector, together equivalent to more than 3.6 million mt of oil equivalent by 2032.
However, the study shows that only about 5% of this capacity is earmarked for the shipping sector, and just a limited number of projects have either reached a final investment decision or entered operation, pointing to regulatory uncertainty as a key factor holding back progress.
The European Union (EU) needs to introduce more ambitious green fuel requirements for the maritime sector to “ensure projects get off the ground,” T&E said.
“Current shipping targets just aren’t ambitious enough to get investors to put money on the table,” Constance Dijkstra, maritime policy manager at T&E said.
IMAGE: T&E
Emerging marine e-fuel supply hubs
Notably, many countries are emerging as prospective suppliers of marine e-fuels, according to the report. Norway leads in terms of volumes primarily allocated to the shipping sector, followed by Spain, Finland and Denmark.
T&E has highlighted European Energy’s Kassø project, which began operations in 2025 and supplies e-methanol to Maersk, as the first dedicated marine e-fuel project and the largest of its kind in Europe.
The research also shows that among e-ammonia and e-methanol projects targeting the transport and maritime sectors, shipping typically represents the largest potential source of demand.
In the case of e-ammonia, shipping is identified as a prospective customer for roughly twice the project volumes dedicated for the fertiliser and chemicals sectors. T&E noted that clearer and stronger demand commitments from the shipping industry would help give producers greater confidence that a viable market exists for green fuels.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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