ScottishPower Renewables has launched an innovative pilot project to reduce its carbon emissions by using waste vegetable oil to help power crew transfer vessels working on its East Anglia 1 offshore wind farm off eastern England.
The renewable vessel fuel, HVO30, is made from 30% hydrogenated vegetable oil and a marine gas oil fuel blend and will be used to power two crew transfer vessels provided by Great Yarmouth-based NR Marine Services.
HVO30 is predicted to result in around a 30% reduction in equivalent carbon dioxide emissions from the two vessels compared with standard marine fuel.
The renewable fuel is created from 100% waste vegetable oils and holds a proof of sustainability certificate from the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification system.
ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia 1 project director Charlie Jordan said: “As part of the drive to get to net zero, we’ve been working with suppliers across our East Anglia 1 wind farm to reduce carbon dioxide emissions throughout the project.
“Developing low emission vessels for use in operational wind farms is a real challenge for the industry and we’re proud to be leading the way and taking on this challenge to help us operate in a cleaner and greener way.
“As we continue to work towards net zero – and with the UK hosting the COP26 UN climate change summit later this year – it’s vital we all do our bit to ensure our operations are as sustainable as possible.
“Our ambition is to continually work with our supply chain to find ways of reducing our environmental impact across our projects.
“We’re really pleased to be working with NR Marine Services to deliver this pilot project, which is an exciting milestone on that journey.”
NR Marine Services director Owen Nutt said: “We are really pleased to be paving the way with reducing vessel emissions on two of our vessels, NR Cougar and NR Jaguar.
“East Anglia 1 is an important project for us and it’s great to see ScottishPower Renewables committing to purchase the HVO30 fuel in a bid to further reduce carbon emissions.
“We are looking forward to analysing the performance of the new fuel and hopefully rolling it out to the entire fleet in the future.”