European Energy is collaborating with Maersk on a green methanol project in Denmark that will use solar generated electricity to produce the fuel stock.
European Energy subsidiary Reintegrate is working with shipping group Maersk, which will use the e-methanol to operate one of its vessels.
REintegrate and European Energy will establish a new Danish facility to produce 10,000 tonnes of carbon neutral e-methanol, enough to annually supply Maersk’s first vessel with the ability to operate on green e-methanol.
Maersk will work closely with REintegrate and European Energy on the development of the facility.
European Energy said the partnership could become a “blueprint for how to scale green fuel production” through collaboration with partners across the industry ecosystem.
“Sourcing the fuels of the future is a significant challenge, and we need to be able to scale production in time.
“This agreement with European Energy/REintegrate brings us on track to deliver on our ambition to have the world’s first container vessel operated on carbon neutral methanol on the water by 2023, said Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of Maersk fleet and strategic brands.
The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic carbon dioxide to produce the e-methanol. Fuel production is expected to start in 2023.
The energy needed for the power-to-methanol production will be provided by a solar farm in Kasso, in southern Denmark.
REintegrate has a proven track record for producing green e-methanol with a test laboratory in Aalborg.
The new facility will be its third e-methanol facility, as they are also constructing an e-methanol facility in Skive with start-up 2022.
European Energy CEO Knud Erik Andersen said: “We’re proud to be a part of the first large scale e-methanol production in Denmark. While renewable energy is becoming more and more common in the energy mix of electricity consumption, this is one of the first steps in heavy transportation towards using 100% renewable energy.
“This agreement marks a milestone in the journey towards green transition in the shipping industry.”
While the renewable energy will be produced in Southern Jutland it is yet to be decided where in Denmark the power-to-methanol facility will be located.
The world’s first methanol feeder will be 172 metres long and it is expected to join the Maersk fleet in mid-2023.
It will sail in the network of Sealand Europe, a Maersk subsidiary, on the Baltic shipping route between Northern Europe and the Bay of Bothnia. It will fly the Danish flag.