Maersk continues methanol market building with Chinese partnership

• Mærsk agrees green methanol deals with Proman, Ørsted
• Mærsk blazes trail for methanol in box ship sector
• New e-methanol facility to supply Mærsk’s carbon-neutral box ship
• Maersk methanol-powered box ship order could total a dozen vessels

In 2018, Maersk announced its ambition to run a carbon-neutral fleet by 2050 and later pushed forward its goal to 2040, when it said it intends to have a fleet that generates net-zero emissions. In August 2021, Maersk committed to building its first potentially carbon-neutral vessels.

More recently, Mærsk agreed a letter of intent with multinational Danish energy company Ørsted to develop a Power-to-X-facility on the US Gulf coast to secure fuel production and offtake for Mærsk’s fleet of 12 methanol-powered vessels. 

According to the agreement, Ørsted will develop a 675-MW Power-to-X facility on the US Gulf coast that will produce approximately 300,000 tonnes of e-methanol (or green methanol derived from clean fuel sources) per year, which Mærsk will offtake for its methanol-powered vessels. The facility will be powered by approximately 1.2 GW of renewable energy from new onshore wind and solar PV farms. The biogenic carbon needed to produce e-methanol will be extracted through carbon capture at one or more large point sources.

The project is targeted to be commissioned in H2 2025, and a final investment decision is to be made late 2023. The 300,000 tonnes of e-methanol would represent a record-breaking offtake agreement for green fuels in the maritime industry.

Mærsk has also signed a green methanol supply agreement with Swiss-headquartered Proman AG, one of the world’s largest producers of methanol. 

In 2021, Mærsk placed a newbuild order with Hyundai Heavy Industries for a series of up to a dozen 16,000-TEU container vessels. Eight of the vessels are part of the initial, firm order, with the first of the vessels set for delivery Q1 2024. An option for four additional vessels could be confirmed for 2025, the company said. 

Mærsk said the dual-fuel vessels will replace older vessels, generating annual CO2 emissions savings of around a million tonnes for the company.

The carbon neutrality of the vessels, tied to the availabilty of carbon-neutral methanol, is not guaranteed, and Mærsk said sourcing the fuel would be "challenging," initially.

"Mærsk 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 Mærsk continues to engage in partnerships and collaborations with relevant players," the company said.

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