In focus: Cross-sector collaborations replacing fossil fuels with green energy

In the face of decarbonisation challenges, presenting a united front seems to be a way around for offshore energy players. Looking back at the last week, we witnessed a number of cross-sector collaborations established with a single aim of eliminating carbon emissions and reaching the net-zero destination through a green energy path.

Focusing on sustainability and green energy transition, Danish Maersk Drilling and the Port Esbjerg have come together to provide the supply of green power for offshore drilling rigs enabling them to ditch fossil-fuel power altogether when docked.

Said to be the first of its kind in Denmark, the shore-to-ship power plant has a capacity to supply green power to up to three drilling rigs.

Claus Bachmann, Head of North Sea Division at Maersk Drilling, stated: “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to use green shore-to-ship power while our rigs are docked at Esbjerg to be readied for new assignments. Maersk Drilling is a first mover in the industry with the ambition to halve its carbon emissions intensity by 2030, and the use of shore-to-ship power contributes to this objective.”

As a result of the collaboration, the Maersk Highlander jack-up rig was connected to shore-to-ship power at Doggerkaj at the Port of Esbjerg. 

In addition to shore-to-ship power, vessels at an offshore wind farm will soon have full-scale offshore charging stations. This week, Maersk Supply Service and Ørsted revealed their plan to launch the world’s first full-scale offshore charging station in the third quarter of 2022.

As part of the project, Maersk Supply Service launched its offshore vessel-charging venture, Stillstrom, that will deliver offshore electric charging solutions to vessels at ports, hubs, and offshore energy operations.

“Our vision at Stillstrom is to enable maritime decarbonisation, by providing the infrastructure that will allow vessels to charge from clean energy when idle offshore. The mission is to remove 5.5 million tons of CO2 within five years of commercial rollout, additionally eliminating particulate matter, NOx, and Sox”, said Sebastian Klasterer Toft, Venture Program Manager at Maersk Supply Service.

Offshore charging for idle vessels is said to be critical to facilitating the decarbonisation of the maritime industry since it allows vessel owners to replace fossil fuels with electricity while being safely moored to the charging buoy.

In the context of reaching climate-neutral operations by 2025, Ørsted also formed a strategic partnership with German steel producer Salzgitter for the supply of offshore wind power and the use of renewable hydrogen at Salzgitter.

Along the lines of seeking future-proof alternative fuels, hydrogen-related headlines have dominated the maritime and clean energy markets this week.

To name a few, Danish CO2-reduction tech company Haldor Topsoe joined the Hydrogen Council to accelerate the deployment of green hydrogen solutions while the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project reached a milestone as the Suiso Frontier, the world’s first liquefied hydrogen (LH2) carrier, is preparing to set sail from Australia to Japan with its first LH2 shipment.

Furthermore, Norway’s ferry company Torghatten Nord signed a $552 million contract to operate hydrogen-powered ferries on the country’s most challenging ferry crossing from 2025 and Spanish Baleària launched a project to build the first electric passenger and cargo ferry that will be pollution-free during port stays and approaches and serve as a test laboratory for green hydrogen.

The potential of wave energy in combination with floating offshore wind (FOW) has been recognised as well with the £3.5 million (around $4.7 million) in grant funding awarded to Marine Power Systems (MPS) from the UK Government. The funding is provided for the further development of MPS’ floating platform technology and wave energy converter.

All the way across the ocean, the U.S. government is also providing support to wave energy projects. This week we saw the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarding $25 million to eight wave energy projects that will make up the first round of open-water testing at the PacWave South test site offshore Oregon.

As part of their endeavour to minimise the environmental footprint and enhance quality from seismic data acquisition, Shearwater GeoServices and Equinor extended their collaboration to include Vår Energi and Lundin Energy Norway to accelerate the development and commercialisation of sustainable marine vibratory source technology.

Massimo Virgilio, CTO of Shearwater GeoServices, said: “We are investing in this technology as a solution for the energy transition enabling monitoring of carbon storage and efficient exploration and production of energy.”