Sweden’s Gothenburg Port Authority is getting ready to fuel methanol-powered ships. The port has received acceptance from the Swedish Transport Agency for the general methanol operating regulations for ship-to-ship bunkering and is also making arrangements to set up a value chain with the ambition of becoming the primary bunkering hub for renewable methanol in Northern Europe.
The Port of Gothenburg has set an ambitious target to reduce shipping emissions by 70% within the port area by 2030 and has highlighted a variety of shipping fuels as one of the key steps to achieving this goal. The port has already handled methanol since 2015 when Stena Line started to bunker Stena Germanica truck to vessel and is now looking to attract other owners.
“Now we hope to see Maersk, X-press Feeders and many other shipping lines routing their new methanol vessels to the North of Europe and we would be delighted to welcome them with open arms to the largest port in Scandinavia,” said Elvir Dzanic, CEO at the Gothenburg Port Authority.
The port has set out to provide eMethanol in the port by 2024 and is working with front runners in the field of E-fuels such as Liquid Wind and its partner Ørsted. There are also plans for large-scale storage of methanol with storage operators in the port when the demand is in place.
“We encourage methanol producers and stakeholders in the industry to reach out and start a dialog with the Port of Gothenburg as we have set the aim to become a bunker and storage hub for methanol/eMethanol,” said Christoffer Lillhage, senior business development manager energy at the Gothenburg Port Authority.
In addition to methanol, the Port of Gothenburg teamed up with Norwegian renewable energy firm Statkraft last year to build a hydrogen production facility at the port, with operations due to commence in 2023. Initially, the facility will have a capacity of 4 MW, producing up to two tonnes of hydrogen per day.
