The Week in Alternative Fuels
Here are some of the key developments in alternative bunker fuels from the past week.
PHOTO: TECO 2030's hydrogen fuel cell systems range between 1.6-6.4 megawatt (MW) capacity, with the larger 6.4 MW system filling up the space of a 40-foot ISO container. TECO 2030
International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol sees hydrogen as a vital component of the green transition. He proclaimed that a “new economy” is emerging with hydrogen and its derivatives coming into the mould as commercial fuels. This seems only fitting as hydrogen was the hot topic this week and featured in the headlines of Engine exclusives with TECO 2030 and Port of Gothenburg.
TECO 2030's chief executive Tore Enger vouched for hydrogen fuel cells to drive down emissions from short-sea shipping, and eventually deep-sea shipping from 2028. More than 100 players in the industry are in talks with TECO 2030, he affirmed.
The Port of Gothenburg has set its sights on becoming Europe's "e-methanol hub" and is now focusing on ramping up its access to hydrogen as an alternative feedstock source or fuel in its own right. The port authority’s senior business development manager Christoffer Lillhage confirmed plans to start hydrogen production in 2023 and study its derivative cousin ammonia as a bunker fuel in the future.
There was also a significant focus on ammonia from other industry players this week. A Finnish trio aims to construct an ammonia-fuelled cargo ship, and the Port of Hamburg received its first ammonia shipment from the UAE.
Finnish shipping company Meriaura, technology firm Wärtsilä and green ammonia start-up Green NortH2 Energy teamed up to build a cargo vessel by 2024 that would start operating on renewable green ammonia in 2026.
Germany’s Port of Hamburg received its first delivery of hydrogen in the form of ammonia from the UAE as part of a deal to facilitate hydrogen imports and its derivatives to Europe under a strategic energy partnership between the two countries.
By Konica Bhatt
Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online
Here is our selection of five top alternative fuels stories from this week:
Finnish trio to build green ammonia-fuelled cargo vessel
Finnish shipping company Meriaura, technology firm Wärtsilä and green ammonia start-up Green NortH2 Energy have teamed up to build a cargo vessel that can run on green ammonia.
The vessel will be ordered and operated by Meriaura and fitted with an engine from Wärtsilä. Green NortH2 Energy will supply the vessel with green ammonia, which is produced with renewable electricity.
The vessel will operate in in the heavy project cargo segment, along with Meriaura’s existing open deck carriers. It will also be built to run on biofuel or marine diesel oil (MDO).
Delivery of the vessel is set for 2024 and it is expected to start operating on green ammonia in 2026.
Meriaura believes that green ammonia can play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as the energy need of the shipping industry “cannot be met with battery technology.” It also said that green ammonia holds an edge over the less energy dense hydrogen in storage, transport and consumption.
Ammonia has been gaining steam as a viable source of energy for the shipping industry.
In August, Japanese engineering firm Mitsubishi and power generation company JERA announced their intentions to supply green electricity and build an ammonia bunkering terminal in Singapore.
In the same month, Norwegian bunkering company Azane Fuel Solutions received approval from ship classification society DNV for its ammonia terminal bunkering and loading station in Scandinavia, in collaboration with fertilizer manufacturer Yara International.
Hamburg receives first shipment of hydrogen from UAE
The Port of Hamburg in Germany has received its first delivery of hydrogen in the form of ammonia from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as part of a deal signed in March this year.
The shipment has been delivered at the German logistics company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik's (HHLA) container terminal Altenwerder in Hamburg.
HHLA had signed an agreement with the UAE-based oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in March to test the transport chain for hydrogen between the two countries.
The aim is to facilitate the import of hydrogen and its derivatives to Germany and Europe under a strategic energy partnership between UAE and Germany, HHLA's chief executive Angela Titzrath says.
HHLA container terminal Altenwerder is "well positioned as an import hub and reliable logistics partner for the distribution and transport of hydrogen,” Titzrath adds.
Copper producer Aurubis will use the imported ammonia to explore carbon-neutral methods of manufacturing copper wire.
INTERVIEW: Hydrogen fuel cells to power short-sea shipping before scaling to deep-sea from 2028 and beyond - TECO 2030
We are confident that fuel cells will initially power zero-emission vessels on shorter distances in coastal areas, like the Baltics and the UK, Tore Enger tells Engine.
Enger is the chief executive of TECO 2030, a company set up in 2019 to produce hydrogen fuel cells for vessels. TECO 2030 spun out of Enger’s marine technology and services company, TECO, which he founded in the mid-1990s.
In the second half of the 2010s, TECO set its aim at the Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 2020 sulphur cap and installed exhaust scrubber towers on more than 100 vessels.
When he established TECO 2030 it was, as its name suggests, with the year 2030 in mind. That is the target year for the IMO’s 40% carbon intensity reduction for shipping.
In March 2021, TECO 2030 announced it is building Norway’s first large-scale hydrogen fuel cell factory in the northern Norwegian city of Narvik and is on schedule for production to start in the fourth quarter of next year.
There will not be large-scale fuel cell production for maritime applications until 2024, Enger says, and everything else to date has been negligible.
He lists a few companies involved with fuel cells – Ballard, PowerCell, NedStack – but says these are mostly working towards the automobile industry, with fuel cells for cars and trucks, not the big systems needed to power ocean-going ships.
The Narvik plant will eventually have a production capacity of more than 1 gigawatts/year and primarily produce hydrogen fuel cells for ships. The fuel cells will convert hydrogen to electroactivity to power ships, emitting only hot air and vapor in the process.
These fuel cells will first be made to power ships while they are loading or unloading cargo in port, and on shorter voyages along coasts or between larger cities. Enger points to the UK, Baltic Sea and Norway’s west coast and fjords as areas for near-term deployment of ships running on fuel cells.
When zero-emission regulations kick into effect for Norwegian fjords in 2026, cruise liners either have to retrofit existing ships or build new ones to run on zero-carbon fuels.
But beyond short-sea shipping, current fuel cell technology is not quite there yet to power larger ocean-going ships. For that to happen, today’s proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells will have to make way for the next generation of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).
Individual SOFCs are similar to PEM fuel cells in size, but larger when assembled together. SOFCs have higher energy efficiency compared to several other power sources. While PEM fuel cell systems can be suitable for short-sea vessel voyages and for larger vessels during port operations, SOFCs will likely be needed to power some of the bigger vessels over greater distances.
Fuel cell technology is only set to properly mature to power larger 30,000-50,000 dwt ships by 2028 at the earliest, says Enger. He believes that fuel cells will then be ready to bring vessels across the Atlantic.
On the demand side, Enger thinks the pressure on shipowners to curb emissions will only grow. We could move towards a market where vessels with better emissions ratings will get cargo deals first, he predicts.
But while IMO 2020 kicked into effect overnight, the green transition for shipping will be more gradual. The IMO currently has a target of 50% greenhouse gas reduction by 2050, which its members agreed on in an initial strategy back in 2018. The strategy is up for revision next summer.
Not everyone in shipping is concerned about emissions beyond being compliant with upcoming regulations, Enger points out, but TECO 2030 has seen a big boost in attention and is in talks with more than 100 industry players.
Q&A: Gothenburg doubles down on alternative fuels with green shipping corridor and hydrogen facility
Reining in emissions from shipping through shore power and alternative fuels like hydrogen and methanol is key to reaching its ambitious environmental goals, the Gothenburg Port Authority tells Engine in an exclusive interview.
The Port of Gothenburg aims to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 70% by 2030. International Maritime Organisation (IMO) member states have set a similar target, but have not committed to reaching it until two decades later.
Part of Gothenburg’s plan for getting there involves setting up an e-methanol hub together with a group of partners, including Scandinavian shipowners Stena Line and DFDS, and with energy producers Ørsted and Liquid Wind. Gothenburg is also set to become the first port in the world to connect tankers to shore power during operation when this gets rolled out next year.
Engine asked the Gothenburg Port Authority if it is on track to meet its 2030 goal. Christoffer Lillhage, the port's senior business development manager energy, discussed possible collaborations, green shipping corridors, and the possibility of the port becoming a nuclear energy hub.
You have set the ambitious target of achieving 70% carbon emission reduction by 2030. What is the total budget allocated for this, and what are the major transition risks in this ambition?
The total budget allocated for the reduction of 70% in carbon emissions by 2030 is approximately (Eur 60 million) $56 million. Approximately 150,000 tonnes or 80% of our emissions come from the shipping sector at the Port of Gothenburg. Despite reaching our target within the terminals thanks to various green initiatives, we still need to work very hard to reduce emissions from the shipping sector.
We recognize that reducing CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030 is a big undertaking, and there are risks involved, the most prominent of which is the lack of ambition and regulatory framework within the EU and other regulatory bodies to drive the transition. This target cannot be reached alone; we need the industry's collaboration.
What are the logistical arrangements or infrastructure changes you are making to set up a value chain to provide renewable methanol in the port as part of your ambition to become Europe’s green fuel hub?
There are a number of alternatives we are examining with regard to alternative fuels, such as liquid biofuel, liquified biogas (LBG), and methanol. We have handled LNG in the port since 2016 and now we start to work with the transition towards LBG. In 2023 we hope to see a storage capacity in the energy port for LBG volumes, and we have a ship owner (Furetank) that has contracted LBG volumes for their vessels operating in the port.
In regard to methanol, our logistics infrastructure is already in place to handle methanol, so we will not need to re-design it significantly. Basically, we will have to make only minor modifications to the pipelines and the storage capacity within the port so that our solutions can be implemented with a minimum investment.
What is the initial volume of e-Methanol you are targeting at the port by 2025?
It is our current goal to have 50,000 tonnes of e-Methanol by 2025 available in the Port delivered from our partner Liquid Wind and their Flagship one facility.
Through your partnership with Liquid Wind and Ørsted, green e-methanol will be produced with biogenic CO2 and green hydrogen. How will the biogenic CO2 be sourced, and what source of renewable energy will power the electrolyser(s) needed to produce the green hydrogen? Where will the production facilities be located?
FlagshipONE's methanol production facility will be near a heating plant in Örnsköldsvik in northern Sweden, which produces biogenic carbon dioxide from waste and heating production. The Örnsköldsvik municipality plans to develop wind energy on a large scale, so 100% of its renewable energy will come from wind.
Back in April, you expressed interest in welcoming shipping lines like Maersk, X-press Feeders and many others routing their new methanol vessels to the North of Europe to Port of Gothenburg. Has your project attracted interest from these shipowners looking to invest in methanol-fuelled vessels?
There is certainly interest from top-tier shipowners to invest in methanol-fuelled vessels. When these vessels come in to service the port of Gothenburg is keen to see them routed to Gothenburg, however, nothing has been finalised yet and discussions are still undergoing.
The stigma around nuclear energy as a marine fuel is decreasing and it is slowly emerging as a mainstream alternative fuel. Will you be open to a nuclear transition in the future to reduce your carbon footprint?
In order to make the green transition successful, we have to adapt and work with alternatives that we think have the potential to make a significant impact. In the future, if nuclear energy is a viable option for the shipping industry to go green with the necessary regulatory framework in place, we will definitely consider that if necessary. We are not closing any doors on any future alternative that would enable a green transition.
Apart from e-Methanol and Green Cable projects, do you have any other green initiatives planned till 2030?
We believe hydrogen will play an important role in the green transition. As part of our commitment to the green transformation, we plan to launch a small-scale hydrogen production facility by 2023 with a capacity of 4 MW. Initially, hydrogen will be used to supply land-side infrastructure, but future expansion is not ruled out. We are also starting to investigate the use of ammonia as future bunker fuel.
Port of Gothenburg is one of the coalition members of the “Getting to Zero Coalition”. Is there any green corridor partnership on the horizon for you?
We are very open to developing new and alternate fuels with other ports, in fact, the Port of Gothenburg is currently working on green corridor concepts – the details of which will be released soon.
“Green corridors will likely play a very vital role in the implementation and use of new alternative fuels. Due to the price gap, some sort of support stated from undersigned parties in the Clydebank declaration would speed up the process”.
