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European Energy will establish a new e-methanol facility in Denmark and provide renewable energy to fuel the carbon-neutral ship
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The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic carbon dioxide to produce the green fuel
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Fuel production is expected to start in 2023
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The world’s first methanol feeder will be 172 meters long and is expected to join the Maersk fleet in mid-2023
A.P. Moller-Maersk has chosen REintegrate, a subsidiary of Danish renewable energy company European Energy, to produce green methanol for the container shipping giant’s first carbon-neutral vessel.
REintegrate and European Energy will establish a new Danish facility to produce about 10,000 tonnes of carbon neutral e-methanol that Maersk’s first vessel able to operate on green e-methanol will consume annually.
Maersk in an August 19 statement said it will work closely with REintegrate and European Energy on developing the facility.
“This type of partnership could become a blueprint for how to scale green fuel production through collaboration with partners across the industry ecosystem, and it will provide us with valuable experiences as we are progressing on our journey to decarbonise our customers’ supply chains,” said Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of fleet and strategic brands at A.P. Moller-Maersk.
“Sourcing the fuels of the future is a significant challenge, and we need to be able to scale production in time. This agreement with European Energy/REintegrate brings us on track to deliver on our ambition to have the world’s first container vessel operated on carbon neutral methanol on the water by 2023,” Thygesen added.
The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic carbon dioxide to produce the e-methanol. The fuel production is expected to start in 2023.
The energy needed for the power-to-methanol production will be provided by a solar farm in Kasso, Denmark.
REintegrate has a proven track record for producing green e-methanol in its test laboratory in Aalborg. The new facility will be its third e-methanol facility, as it is also constructing an e-methanol facility in Skive with startup in 2022.
“We’re proud to be a part of the first large scale e-methanol production in Denmark,” said Knud Erik Andersen, CEO of European Energy.
“While renewable energy is becoming more and more common in the energy mix of electricity consumption, this is one of the first steps in heavy transportation towards using 100% renewable energy. This agreement marks a milestone in the journey towards green transition in the shipping industry.”
While the renewable energy will be produced in Southern Jutland, where in Denmark the power-to-methanol facility will be located is yet to be decided.
Maersk announced the dual fuel vessel, an industry first, in February 2021. In June, it announced that Hyundai Mipo Dockyards will be building the 2,100-TEU feeder.
The world’s first methanol feeder will be 172 meters long and is expected to join the Maersk fleet in mid-2023. Flying the Danish flag, it will sail in the network of Sealand Europe, a Maersk subsidiary, on the Baltic shipping route between Northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia.
Photo by Martin Lopez from Pexels
