Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and TotalEnergies set out to develop liquefied CO2 carriers

Japan’s Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has partnered up with French energy giant TotalEnergies to carry out a feasibility study for the development of a liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carrier.

TotalEnergies has been involved in several carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects, including the Northern Lights in Norway, while Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has been actively pursuing commercialisation of LCO2 carriers as it believes demand for these vessels is expected to increase in the future, backed by growing interest in these decarbonisation technologies.

“Such vessels will be key to accommodate the expected surge in transported CO2 volumes for geological storage triggered by the acceleration in net zero carbon targets worldwide and to meet world industrial emitters’ needs,” said Bruno Seilhan, vice president of CCUS at TotalEnergies.

The Japanese shipbuilder said the joint project is expected to make a significant contribution to the establishment of a CO2 ecosystem in the CO2 transport sector, which will be an essential component of the CCUS value chain.

“We believe that LCO2 carriers are an effective solution for achieving a decarbonised world. We will continue to actively pursue technology development in cooperation with partners seeking to achieve decarbonisation using LCO2 carriers, with the aim of market formation for the CCUS value chain,” added Toru Kitamura, president of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding.