Wallenius Wilhelmsen signs bio-methanol offtake agreement with Equinor
Nordic shipping firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen will purchase mass-balanced bio-methanol from Equinor over the next two years.
IMAGE: Concept of methanol-dual fuel container ship. Wallenius Willhelmsen
Deliveries will begin later this year, with Wallenius Wilhelmsen set to receive bio-methanol bunkers at the ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen has at least eight methanol dual-fuel vessels on order, with deliveries scheduled for later this year through 2027.
The bio-methanol is produced from biogas derived from manure at Equinor’s Tjeldbergodden plant in Norway.
In the process, biogas is upgraded to biomethane and injected into the existing gas grid. Bio-methanol is then produced from gas taken from the grid on a mass-balance basis, Equinor explained.
Gas in the grid may consist of a mixture of biomethane and natural gas. The renewable content is tracked through Europe’s biogas certificate system, which links the biomethane injected into the grid with the bio-methanol produced and prevents double counting of renewable attributes.
The resulting bio-methanol is certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification system (ISCC-EU) in line with sustainability criteria set out in the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
The approach allows bio-methanol to be produced at existing facilities, enabling faster scale-up while avoiding the need for new dedicated infrastructure, Equinor added.
“Equinor has previously signed supply agreements for bio-methanol with Maersk and NCL [North Sea Container Lines], and we are progressing several leads for both bio and conventional methanol supply agreements,” Alex Grant, senior vice president at Equinor said.
“Long-term agreements help create the demand signals fuel producers need to invest and scale production, strengthening the supply chain for alternative fuels and accelerating the transition from pilot projects to commercial deployment across the industry,” Christos Chryssakis, vice president at Wallenius Wilhelmsen said.
By Konica Bhatt
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