Maersk Secures Green Methanol to Power World’s 1st Carbon-neutral Vessel

A.P. Moller-Maersk, a shipping giant based in Denmark, has identified its partners to produce green fuel for its first vessel to operate on carbon neutral methanol: REintegrate, a subsidiary of the Danish renewable energy company European Energy.

REintegrate and European Energy will establish a new Danish facility to produce the approx. 10.000 tonnes of carbon neutral e-methanol that Maersk’s first vessel with the ability to operate on green e-methanol will consume annually. Maersk will work closely with REintegrate and European Energy on the development of the facility.

“This type of partnership could become a blueprint for how to scale green fuel production through collaboration with partners across the industry ecosystem, and it will provide us with valuable experiences as we are progressing on our journey to decarbonise our customers’ supply chains,” says Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

“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,” she adds.

The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic CO2 to produce the e-methanol. The 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 Kassø, Southern Denmark.

REintegrate has a proven track record for producing green e-methanol with a test laboratory in Aalborg, says Maersk. The new facility will be its third e-methanol facility, as they are also constructing an e-methanol facility in Skive with startup 2022.

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.

Maersk announced the dual fuel vessel, an industry first, in February 2021. In June, Maersk announced that Hyundai Mipo Dockyards will be building the 2100 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent) feeder.

“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.