Wärtsilä embarks on 1st major CO2 capture retrofit of ethylene carrier

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä and Norwegian shipping company Solvang ASA have agreed on a full-scale pilot retrofit installation of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) system on one of Solvang’s ethylene carriers.

As informed, Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment, part of Wärtsilä group, will design the retrofitted unit while it also plans to complete a land-based 1MW test system at its Moss headquarters in Norway. The land-based unit will be finished in autumn 2021, and the companies expect to retrofit the pilot CCS system on the 21,000-cbm ethylene carrier Clipper Eos by 2023.

The 160-meter long vessel was built by South Korean shipbuilding company Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. Since its delivery in 2019, the ship has been chartered by major Japanese integrated trading and investment business conglomerate Marubeni Corporation.

The agreement reinforces Wärtsilä’s continued research and development into carbon capture at the point of exhaust to support the shipping industry’s decarbonisation pathway.

The project will enable both Wärtsilä and Solvang to strengthen their position at the cutting edge of sustainable technology development in shipping. To remain in line with the IMO’s decarbonisation targets,

Partners are initially aiming for a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions at the point of exhaust with this pilot unit. 

“Joining forces with Solvang to build and retrofit a commercially viable CCS technology demonstrates to the industry that we are only two or three years away from bringing to market another vital tool in shipping’s decarbonisation toolkit,” Sigurd Jenssen, Director at Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment, said.

“Our land-based test unit is nearing completion, and we will then move to making it a reality on the Clipper Eos, ensuring that both Wärtsilä and Solvang remain at the forefront of maritime sustainability technology advancement.”

“Carbon capture and storage is an exciting development that we are proud to support, and strongly believe that this technology could be an important key to decarbonize the world’s deep-sea fleet,” Edvin Endresen, CEO at Solvang ASA added.

Carbon capture and storage systems have been making headlines these days as they become one of the key technology to speed up maritime decarbonisation.

Today, Japanese shipping major K Line revealed that it has successfully separated and captured CO2 from the exhaust gas emitted from a vessel, coal carrier Corona Utility.