Collaborative efforts underpin methanol’s uptake as a marine fuel

Methanol-powered box ships

This is already happening. HiMSEN’s first methanol dual-fuel, four-stroke medium-speed engines will be delivered to HMD for installation in AP Møller-Maersk’s 2,100-TEU container feeder vessel, under construction for delivery in Q4 2022. These two HiMSEN 6H32F-LM generator engines will each be rated 3,000 kW at 720 rpm.

HHI-EMD is building a two-stroke, dual-fuel MAN B&W 6G50ME-LGIM for the main propulsion power for the 172-m long by 32-m wide feeder ship, which will sail in the network of Sealand Europe, a Maersk subsidiary, on the Baltic shipping route between Rotterdam in northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia.

Maersk followed up its initial order for the newbuild feeder ship at HMD with a series of eight 16,000-TEU container ships at the South Korean shipyard – all powered with methanol dual-fuel engines. Those eight two-stroke, dual-fuel MAN B&W 8G95ME-LGIM engines are being built by HHI-EMD.

MAN Energy Solutions senior vice president and head of two-stroke business Bjarne Foldager, called the order a “massive milestone” when it was announced in August, saying the engines “will be the largest methanol-burning engines ever constructed.”

The technology for these larger 95-bore engines is based on MAN Energy Solutions’ 50-bore counterpart, which has amassed more than 100,000 running hours on methanol alone.

If Maersk exercises an option, it could increase its investment to 12 methanol-burning box ships at HMD; this will require HHI-EMD to build four more methanol dual-fuel engines. The option must be exercised by 2025. The first of the confirmed vessels are due to enter service in Q1 2024.

Challenges of carbon neutrality

MAN Energy Solutions states that the new engines will be capable of burning bio-methanol as well as e-methanol, laying the groundwork for Maersk’s container ships to be carbon neutral when they enter service.

The carbon neutrality of the vessels is no sure thing; it is tied to the availability of carbon-neutral methanol, which is not guaranteed, and Maersk says sourcing the fuel would be "challenging" initially.

“Maersk will operate the vessels on carbon-neutral e-methanol or sustainable bio-methanol as soon as possible. Sourcing an adequate amount of carbon-neutral methanol from day one in service will be challenging, as it requires a significant production ramp up of proper carbon-neutral methanol production, for which Maersk continues to engage in partnerships and collaborations with relevant players,” the company says.

“Grey methanol can still reduce harmful shipping emissions across the board”

One of those partnerships Maersk is betting on is a new Danish facility developed by REintegrate and European Energy that will produce 10,000 tonnes of carbon-neutral e-methanol. The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic CO₂ to produce the e-methanol. Production is expected to start in 2023.

The energy needed for the power-to-methanol production will be provided by a solar farm in Kassø, southern Denmark. The location in Denmark for the power-to-methanol facility is still to be decided.

Maersk is hedging its bets; just weeks after its partnership with REintegrate, it announced it was investing in California-based WasteFuel, a US start-up focused on turning waste into sustainable aviation fuel, green bio-methanol, and renewable natural gas.

AP Møller-Maersk VP and head of decarbonisation Morten Bo Christiansen, who has joined the board of WasteFuel, is realistic about the hurdles ahead for carbon neutrality. “We know that sourcing an adequate amount of green fuel for our methanol-fueled vessels will be very challenging, as it requires a significant production ramp up globally,” he says. “Collaboration and partnerships are key to scaling the production and distribution of sustainable fuels, and we look forward to doing exactly that with WasteFuel,” says Mr Christensen.