Propulsion innovator Eidesvik Offshore is looking to develop ammonia as a marine fuel as it pushes towards a zero-emissions fleet
Norway’s offshore sector will be leading the global maritime industry in trialling an innovative vessel fuel that could eliminate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). State energy group Equinor and OSV operator Eidesvik Offshore will work together in a consortium to develop and test ammonia as a marine fuel. This will be the first test of its kind and could herald a new generation of OSVs if it is proven successful.
Equinor and Eidesvik are in the ShipFC consortium, which will spend US$24M on this project, of which €10M (US$11M) has been secured from the European Union.
This project, co-ordinated by the Norwegian cluster organisation NCE Maritime CleanTech, will test ammonia fuel cells on Eidesvik’s platform supply vessel (PSV) Viking Energy.
The aim is to demonstrate how long-range zero-emissions voyages and offshore operations are possible, while Viking Energy operates under a new five-year charter with Equinor, offshore Norway.
“The goal of this full-scale research project is to install fuel-cell modules with a total power of 2 MW on board Viking Energy in 2024,” says Eidesvik chief executive Jan Fredrik Meling. This ammonia fuel cell could enable this PSV to sail just on ammonia for up to 3,000 hours annually.
During this five-year project Wärtsilä will be supplying the power technology and systems for ammonia storage and distribution on Viking Energy. Prototech will supply the fuel-cell system and Yara the ammonia fuel.
Eidesvik vice president for technology and development Vermund Hjelland thinks ammonia will reduce the climate footprint from offshore traffic. He explains how the test on Viking Energy will replace around two-thirds of methane-based fuel.
“As part of the testing, the vessel will use ammonia in transit between harbour and offshore installations for one year,” says Mr Hjelland. “We envisage ammonia will be used to power the vessel when alongside quays.
“Our ambition is that 60-70% of the energy consumption will come from ammonia during the test period,” he continues. “In addition, we want to demonstrate that the technology can supply up to 90% of the total power demand.” The remaining energy consumption on board will be powered by LNG, which has been Viking Energy’s main fuel since 2003.
Before ammonia is tested on Eidesvik’s PSV, the fuel-cell capacity needs to be increased and laboratory tested. ShipFC will scale up a 100-kW fuel cell to 2 MW and test it in the Sustainable Energy Norwegian Catapult Centre.
There will be more tests of ammonia in the future as the ShipFC consortium intends to study applications on offshore construction and cargo vessels. For this, North Sea Shipping, Capital-Executive and Star Bulk Ship Management are providing vessel test cases.
Mr Hjelland welcomes the continued collaboration with Wärtsilä and class society DNV GL for green-vessel projects.
“Wärtsilä has provided technology solutions throughout Eidesvik’s development stages, from LNG in 2003, via fuel cell and hybrid solutions, and up to today’s focus on ammonia,” says Mr Hjelland.
“The ammonia project on Viking Energy would not have been possible without the research and testing we have done previously,” he continues. This includes testing fuel-cell technology and battery packs on other vessels in the fleet.
“Technology which then was at the research stage has now become a shelf item, and today several oil companies are demanding battery packs in their tenders,” says Mr Hjelland. “Much to the benefit of a more energy efficient and environmentally friendly shipping industry,” he adds
Decade of innovation
Viking Energy has become a choice test vessel for testing new propulsion technology. It was the world’s first supply vessel powered by LNG when delivered in 2003 and it was the first to secure DNV GL’s Battery Power class notation in 2016.
Eidesvik chief operating officer and executive vice president Jan Lodden says emissions-reduction technology has been deployed over the rest of the fleet. “We installed batteries on five vessels and will do on two more, on Viking Neptun and Viking Avant, later this year,” he says.
Eidesvik installed fuel cells on PSV Viking Lady in 2010 and started battery testing in 2013. “We found it was better than expected,” says Mr Lodden. In 2015, the operator introduced batteries (of 652 kWh) on Viking Queen for peak shaving and start-stop requirements. Then in 2016, Viking Energy was the first vessel where batteries were used for peak shaving and spinning reserve for dynamic positioning (DP) with Battery Power notation.
In 2017, Eidesvik became the first to replace a genset with a battery. It installed a 5,11kWh battery on Viking Princess, for peak shaving, start-stop and spinning reserve.
“That was a step change, as new vessels would be built with a combination of generator and battery,” says Mr Lodden.
Eidesvik then extended battery installations to its subsea construction and support vessels. Batteries were installed on the Seven Viking subsea maintenance vessel, chartered to Subsea 7, in 2018.
In one year on this vessel, batteries saved 970 tonnes of fuel and 18.7% of emissions, meaning they have a payback of four years, according to Mr Lodden, “This increased DP capabilities; we can operate DP on open bustie and there were more fuel savings during transit than estimated,” he explains.
Battery installations continue in 2020 as Eidesvik expects to retrofit Viking Neptun and Viking Avant. “We will have seven vessels on hybrid propulsion in Q2 2020,” says Mr Lodden, who is an advocate for battery investment.
“Since 2014, we have been getting better contracts and made maintenance cost reductions, much more than anticipated,” he says. “The price of batteries has decreased a lot during our time and renewing batteries will become less expensive. The payback is 4-5 years or more.”
Payback for Eidesvik’s fleet is between 3.3-9.7 years, depending on the size and emissions reductions.
“Batteries can help solve a common challenge to reducing emissions and LNG has a future,” says Mr Lodden, “but, another fuel could replace that. Which is why we will test ammonia.”
Operator perspective
For Equinor, the ShipFC project could help it meet targets to reduce CO2 by 50% in 2030 and its aim to cut CO2 by 70% by 2040 and achieve zero emissions in 2050, says Equinor manager for marine Morten Sundt.
“We are actively decarbonising our industry, growing our offshore wind portfolio and reducing vessel emissions,” he says. “We are now at 30% carbon reduction, so we are on track to reach our targets. But we need to look at all alternatives and game-changing opportunities.”
There are more practical and operational changes to be made before that. “We are working at optimising voyages and using long-term contracts for PSVs to encourage battery installation,” he says.
Mr Sundt expects energy companies will have an increasing role to play in marine and offshore decarbonisation. “We will need to find solutions in [vessel] newbuilds and look at alternative fuels. We are looking at batteries, hydrogen and ammonia and energy storage.”
He thinks there will be incentives in new term contracts for reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
“We would establish a baseline on fuel consumption and if the vessel uses less fuel, we could share the savings, but if it consumes more fuel, then we would share costs,” he explains.
“We would pay out more to shipowners, save fuel and the environment, and share savings with owners,” says Mr Sundt.
Equinor already has incentives in its charter agreements for most of its long- and mid-term charters for PSVs in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
Ammonia test case participants
ShipFC is a consortium of 14 European companies and institutions. Its participants are:
Eidesvik: a history of innovation
Year innovation was installed |
|||||
Vessel name |
Year built |
LNG |
Battery/hybrid |
Fuel savings (%) |
payback (years) |
Viking Energy |
2003 |
2003 |
2016 |
17 |
3.4 |
Viking Avant |
2005 |
2020 |
13 (est) |
6.8 |
|
Viking Lady |
2009 |
2009 |
2013 |
8 |
9.7 |
Viking Princess |
2012 |
2012 |
2017 |
12 |
4.6 |
Seven Viking IMR |
2013 |
2018 |
18.7 |
4.4 |
|
Viking Neptun SCV |
2015 |
2020 |
12 (est) |
5.2 |
|
Viking Queen |
2015 |
2015 |
12 |
6.6 |
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