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Maersk eyes more methanol from China

A.P. Moller – Maersk has penned an agreement with Debo Energy in China for the supply of green methanol as fuel for its containerships under construction in South Korea.

The letter of intent with Debo would see the Danish shipping giant purchase 200,000 tons of green methanol annually from the Chinese company, with plans to launch commercial production in September 2024.

The deal follows Maersk’s partnership with China’s CIMC ENRIC and Green Technology Bank, along with Denmark-based Ørsted and European Energy, WasteFuel in the US, and Swiss-based methanol producer Proman, to scale up green methanol production with the intent of sourcing at least 730,000 tons of fuel per year by the end of 2025.

In January this year, Maersk pledged to reach net zero emission targets by 2040 across its entire business, including scopes 1, 2 and 3. The carrier has twelve 16,000 teu dual-fuelled container vessels able to operate on carbon neutral methanol under construction at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

Maersk is also working with five other companies to establish Asia’s first green e-methanol plant, which converts captured biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) into green e-methanol. The pilot plant will be set up in Singapore pending the successful conclusion of feasibility studies by the end of 2022 with a minimum production capacity of 50,000 tons per annum.

In related news, one of Maersk’s future fuel suppliers, European Energy, has inked a ten-year deal with Canada’s Anaergia for the supply of up to 60,000 tonnes per year of liquefied biogenic CO2 for the production of green e-methanol.

Adis Ajdin

Adis is an experienced news reporter with a background in finance, media and education. He has written across the spectrum of offshore energy and ocean industries for many years and is a member of International Federation of Journalists. Previously he had written for Navingo media group titles including Offshore Energy, Subsea World News and Marine Energy.

Comments

  1. This is not just a single decarbonization target… This is a desperate race of Maersk’s CEO to meet the Shareholders’ deadline on promises made on Methanol Fleet Investment…
    A compelling “Chicken Run” is shown by the dire agreements and unsecured partnerships for bits of fragments here and there of “green” methanol quantities for tanking up the supply needs for realizing the ROI of the investment.
    The Maersk project of 12×16,000TEU Methanol-fueled main and aux. engines at a service speed of up to 20 kn would require more than 2.4 million tons of Green methanol/year, under standard fleet utilization, by the year 2025… This deadline apart from securing sustainable sourcing should include infrastructure for storage, transfer, and handling of bunkering logistics at a pre-selected bunkering hub network, depending on the design endurance and destinations of the Fleet ships…
    Besides the corporation promises to its shareholders… as they say: “one swallow does not a summer make” for global decarbonization.

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