The Week in Alternative Fuels
Here are some key developments in alternative bunker fuels from the past week.
PHOTO: Aerial view of the Europoort area in the Port of Rotterdam. Getty Images
European Parliament members (MEPs) will take a vote next week on whether or not to adopt stricter emission targets than those proposed by the European Commission. If approved, a mandate would require ships exceeding 5,000 gross tonnage to reduce their average greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity by 2% by 2025 and 6% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels.
Looking further ahead the Commission seeks up to 75% reductions in ships' greenhouse gas intensity by 2050. An amended proposal last week would have this go up to 80%.
Both of these targets will fall short of what's needed, environmental NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) said this week. It urges a complete mid-century decarbonisation.
While MEPs gear up to vote and lay down maritime emission rules, European companies are stepping up their efforts to reduce their carbon footprints.
The Norwegian company Corvus Energy is developing a large-scale proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell system for ships that will be tested in Bergen, Norway. Based on Toyota's existing technology, the fuel cells will have the operating power between 320 kW and 10 MW.
As part of its efforts to achieve net-zero by 2050, French container shipping company CMA CGM has invested in Hy24 clean hydrogen infrastructure fund, a joint venture between asset management firms FiveT Hydrogen and Ardian. In addition, CMA CGM has already allocated some of the funds to three biomethane and e-methane projects.
In Spain and Portugal, oil company Cepsa plans to lead green hydrogen production and scale its biofuel production to 2.5 million mt/year by 2030.
It recently supplied a biofuel-VLSFO blend for a test run on Grupo Ibaizabal's tanker Montestena, claiming the biofuel component of the blend can reduce the ship's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 85% compared to fossil fuel.
Cepsa announced an interesting partnership with the Port of Rotterdam this week, in which they will establish a hydrogen corridor between ports of Rotterdam and Algeciras by 2027.
Moving east, there were also some exciting announcements from South Korea. A Shell-led consortium is exploring solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for ships, a technology that could unlock great decarbonisation gains. South Korean Doosan Group-owned HyAxiom and Doosan Fuel Cell (DFCC) have set out to develop two 300 kW SOFCs as auxiliary power units for ships.
By Konica Bhatt
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Here is our selection of five top alternative fuels stories from this week:
Corvus Energy opens hydrogen fuel cell testing area in Bergen
Corvus Energy is developing a large-scale proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell system for ships and will test them in Norway's Bergen.
Corvus Energy is a Norwegian marine energy storage systems developer. On the project to develop the PEM fuel cells it has been joined by Japanese automaker Toyota, Norwegian oil firm Equinor, shipowners Norled and Wilhelmsen, ship designer LMG Marin, the University of South-Eastern Norway and the industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech.
The fuel cells are based on Toyota’s existing technology and will have operating power ranging from 320 kW to 10 MW. They will be combined with batteries to form a hybrid power system for commercial use.
The fuel cell system was approval by classification society DNV in March this year and a vessel trial is planned for next year, with a commercial launch set for 2024.
Corvus Energy’s chief executive Geir Bjørkeli sees marine hydrogen fuel cells as a “vital step toward the decarbonisation of shipping.”
Another Norway-based company, TECO 2030, recently confirmed that its hydrogen fuel cell factory in Narvik is set to start production this year. TECO 2030 aims to produce 1,200 MW of fuel cells annually by 2030, primarily for ship propulsion.
CMA CGM invests in clean hydrogen infrastructure fund Hy24
French container shipping company CMA CGM has become the latest investor in Hy24 – a clean hydrogen infrastructure fund.
Hy24, which claims to be the world’s largest clean hydrogen infrastructure fund, is a result of a joint venture between asset management firms FiveT Hydrogen and Ardian.
The project has so far raised €2 billion ($1.94 billion), which will be used to ramp-up viable hydrogen technologies.
The fund has welcomed CMA CGM as a “new key industrial investor.”
CMA CGM’s recent move is in sync with its objective of decarbonising its operations and attaining net zero by 2050.
In September, CMA CGM created a fund worth $1.5 billion spread over five years called Special Fund for Energies to facilitate its energy transition.
CMA CGM has already allocated some of the funds into three projects.
It has collaborated with French utility firm Engie to produce 11,000 mt/year of biomethane by 2026 and scale up production to 200,000 mt/year by 2028 through the Salamander Project.
It plans to construct a 100,000 mt biomethane production and liquefaction facility in three years in partnership with Dutch LNG bunker supplier Titan. CMA CGM is also actively involved in Jupiter 1000 project in France's Fos to mass produce e-methane.
Apart from this, the company has 31 e-methane ready vessels in operation and another 46 on order for delivery by 2026.
Cepsa joins Port of Rotterdam to create green hydrogen corridor between Spain and Netherlands
Spanish oil company Cepsa aims to create a green hydrogen corridor between the ports of Rotterdam and Algeciras by 2027.
The hydrogen will be produced at Cepsa’s San Roque Energy Park near the Bay of Algeciras and will be exported in the form of ammonia or methanol to Rotterdam.
It intends to develop a similar supply chain from its La Rábida Energy Park in the Spanish port city of Huelva.
Maarten Wetselaar, Cepsa's chief executive, says the company will continue to explore further partnerships that can accelerate the roll out of green hydrogen and biofuels across Europe.
The European Union intends to produce 10 million mt of green hydrogen by 2030, and import another 10 million mt, under its REPowerEU plan.
Rotterdam aims to supply northwestern Europe with 4.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, while Cepsa hopes to lead the production of green hydrogen in Spain and Portugal by 2030.
Cepsa to offer biofuel blends after successful trial
Spanish oil company Cepsa has successfully trialled biofuel on one of its vessels and is set to offer the blend to its customers.
The trial was carried out over several weeks on the Montestena, a vessel owned by Grupo Ibaizabal.
The biofuel is a blend of used oils and conventional VLSFO. It was produced at Cepsa’s Bioenergy plant in Cádiz, Spain and delivered to the Montestena via one of its bunkering vessels in the Bay of Algeciras.
Cepsa claims that the biofuel component of the blend can reduce the ship's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 85% on a lifecycle assessment basis when compared to fossil fuels. It did not disclose the ratio of biofuel to VLSFO - which has big implications for its carbon emission reduction potential.
The company intends to scale up biofuels production in Spain and Portugal to 2.5 million mt by 2030.
“At Cepsa, we are putting all our experience into making biofuels a sustainable alternative for the present, while at the same time advancing in new technologies that will make it possible to further decarbonize this sector in the future, such as through green ammonia, e-methanol or biogas," Cepsa's bunker director Carlos Giner said.
Cepsa says no ship modifications are required to use its blend.
Exploration of biofuels has been gaining momentum among shipowners to reduce near-term carbon emissions as these can used as drop-in fuels after being blended with conventional fuels.
Last month, Hong Kong-based shipping line OOCL completed a 41-day trial run of a biofuel blend supplied by Chevron Singapore. And separately, US-based cruise line Virgin Voyages teamed up with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and three biofuel providers - Argent Energy, GoodFuels and Twelve – to develop a bio-bunker supply.
Shell-led consortium to explore potentially groundbreaking solid oxide fuel cells for ships
South Korean Doosan Group-owned HyAxiom and Doosan Fuel Cell (DFCC) have set out to design and manufacture two 300 kW solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as a combined auxillary power unit for ships.
The combined 600 kW SOFCs will be developed and delivered by 2024, and subsequently trialled on a Shell-chartered LNG vessel for one year from 2025.
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding arm of Hyundai Heavy Industries, will integrate the system on a ship.
Norwegian classification society DNV will provide technical and safety advise.
This initiative could unlock a “pathway to net-zero” through the “blending of conventional and alternative fuels” until zero-carbon options are available on a large scale according to Karrie Trauth, senior vice president of shipping and maritime at Shell.
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 SOFCs, hydrogen fuel cell maker TECO 2030's chief executive Tore Enger told Engine in an interview earlier this year.
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.
Jeff Hyungrak Jeong, DFCC’s chief executive, expects hydrogen and ammonia-powered marine SOFCs to replace existing internal combustion engines as a pollution-free power source.
Vidar Dolonen, DNV's regional manager of maritime in Korea and Japan, calls SOFCs “one of the promising solutions for achieving net zero in maritime."
Last year, South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries built the world's first SOFC-powered LNG carrier in partnership with US-based Bloom Energy. The carrier does not require an internal combustion engine or other equipment that uses oil. It is instead powered by SOFCs using naturally vaporized LNG.
