In focus: Clean fuels make a grand entrance into maritime and offshore energy space

The decarbonization of maritime industry is increasingly picking up pace, led by new zero-emissions and hybrid-powered vessels, as ever-innovative offshore renewables sector finds new ways to produce green hydrogen – one of the most promising clean fuels in the energy transition story.

The last couple of years have seen the maritime sector slowly, but steadily, shifting its course towards cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions for powering its operations.

Backed with appropriate policy developments, funding, and various collaborative initiatives on a global scale, the maritime and shipping sector is now going ‘full-steam’ ahead towards becoming fully decarbonized and sustainable industry, reclaiming its central place in the net-zero future.

As the backbone of international trade, transport of goods, and development of large-scale offshore and renewable energy projects, the importance of zero-emissions or hybrid-powered vessels has emerged on top of the ‘to do’ list for the industry.

This can be confirmed in the latest move by the Norwegian marine technology player Kongsberg Maritime, which unveiled a range of new vessel designs, which now feature next-generation anchor handler (AHT) and platform supply vessels (PSV), sporting the option to boost performance with alternative energy sources and fuels, such as methanol, ammonia, and hybrid-battery power.

According to the Norwegian company, these next-generation designs are expected to help shipowners address current and future challenges around efficiency, emissions reduction, and developing market requirements for decarbonization and greener vessels.

On the other side of the world, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., part of the Japanese major Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, unveiled plans to conduct technical studies on an ammonia fuel supply system for large, low-speed two-stroke marine engines which are being developed by Swiss marine engine maker Winterthur Gas & Diesel AG (WinGD).

“This collaboration will give both Mitsubishi and WinGD an important first-mover advantage in using ammonia in marine engines to meet IMO decarbonization targets. It will set the path for the new generation of technology applicable to a wide range of vessels over the next decades,” Manabu Kawakado, Head of Marine Engineering Centre, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., said.

Developing any new technology or process requires appropriate certification and classification of products, to increase investor security and to adhere to the already established industry best practices.

Therefore, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, in collaboration with its Nordic Green Ammonia Powered Ships (NoGAPS) partners, collaborated with one of the leading classification societies DNV to secure an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of an ammonia-powered gas carrier – the M/S NoGAPS.

The partners in the project aim to harness the potential of ammonia, overcome the technical challenges of the fuel and have an ammonia-powered ammonia carrier in operation.

As clean fuel with most diverse potential for production and application, green hydrogen has become the trending topic in the maritime and offshore energy space for a while now.

Just this week, the Biden-Harris Administration released the US National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, a framework for accelerating the production, processing, delivery, storage and use of clean hydrogen.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) informed that the framework provides a snapshot of hydrogen production, transport, storage and use in the United States currently, as well as a vision for how clean hydrogen will contribute to national decarbonization goals across multiple sectors in the future.

In Europe, the Polish natural gas transmission system operator GAZ-SYSTEM and its Danish counterpart Energinet signed a memorandum of cooperation to work together on accelerating energy transition and strengthening regional energy security in Europe.

The two operators plan to cooperate to ensure a secure and continuous supply of natural gas through the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline and development in new areas related to low and zero-carbon energy sources, including biomethane and hydrogen.

When it comes to hydrogen production, offshore renewables stand to play a pivotal role for a fully green solution. The advances in the area are being constantly made, with the latest coming from China where hydrogen production technology with the direct seawater electrolysis method was tested at Xonghua Bay offshore wind farm in Fujian.

This ‘world’s first’ test to produce hydrogen by in-situ direct electrolysis of hydrogen production technology without desalination of seawater was conducted early in June, and has been verified by a team of experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Marine energy sector is poised to play an important part in green hydrogen production as well, as confirmed by the new initiative in South Korea. Namely, the Yongsoo wave energy pilot plant, installed offshore Jeju Island in South Korea, is being prepared to produce green hydrogen.

The basic design of the hydrogen production system has been completed, and plans are in place to complete manufacturing and onshore performance testing this year, the developers said.

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