In Sweden, a cross-sector industry consortium with Stena Line, DFDS, Ørsted, and Liquid Wind has partnered with the Port of Gothenburg to establish an electro-fuel (e-fuels) hub. As the largest port in Scandinavia, Gothenburg is the ideal choice for the first delivery and bunkering point for green e-fuels such as e-methanol.
Stena Line, a Swedish ferry line company with an extensive European route network, and DFDS, a leading European Shipping and Logistics company are partnering with FlagshipONE, an e-fuel plant currently under development in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
This collaboration is supported by the Port of Gothenburg, the first shipping port to actively pursue a green fuels policy ensuring carbon neutral operations by 2030.
The Port of Gothenburg has set out to reduce CO2 emissions by 70 percent within the Port area by 2030. This is an extremely important goal for us, but something we cannot achieve on our own. Therefore, we are delighted to have a supplier like Liquid Wind and committed ship owners like Stena Line and DFDS taking these ambitious steps that will make a huge difference towards achieving that goal, said Elvir Dzanic, CEO of the Port of Gothenburg.
The announcement event was visited by the Swedish Minister for Energy and Digital Development Khashayar Farmanbar. The Minister welcomed the green e-fuels hub initiative as an “important milestone for carbon-neutral shipping.”
We are honoured to have the Minister present here at the Port of Gothenburg, at this pivotal moment when the 5+ years of development work that Liquid Wind has put in, meets the reality of real customers, Stena Line and DFDS, leading to the conclusion of long-term agreements that will allow FlagshipONE to establish and construct the first full-scale electro-fuel facility in Europe or perhaps even the world, said Claes Fredriksson, CEO, and Founder of Liquid Wind.
At the press meeting, Minister Farmanbar expressed an understanding of the need to support the introduction of green electro-fuels for shipping and the ambition to find ways forward to financially support the green transition.
The Minister’s support for a large-scale introduction of electro-fuels is encouraging going forward. We look forward to a continued constructive dialogue with the Government on how to ensure financial prerequisites for the production of green electro-fuels in Sweden, Claes Fredriksson said.
Jointly owned by Danish renewable energy major Ørsted A/S, and Swedish eMethanol developer Liquid Wind AB, FlagshipONE is in late-stage development and approaching a final investment decision (FID).
Ørsted is excited about the opportunity to support the Port of Gothenburg, DFDS, and Stena Line in their ambition to decarbonize their marine operations by using green e-fuel to be produced at FlagshipONE in Sweden. We certainly appreciate the effort by all stakeholders to be present here today, and I’m very pleased that Ørsted can continue to lead the energy transition for the shipping sector, Olivia Breese, SVP, Ørsted P2X.
With a planned annual capacity of 50 000 tonnes of eMethanol, it will be one of the largest e-fuels facilities in the world.
Launch in 2025
The five companies will now work together to launch the first renewable, ‘Made in Sweden’ marine fuel, to encourage more companies to choose carbon-neutral e-fuels.
Being an industry leader in sustainability, Stena Line has the ambition to achieve a climate-neutral operation. This partnership is yet another proof point of our dedication to reducing our carbon footprint. We cannot achieve this on our own – a strategic collaboration across the value chain will be a win-win for all stakeholders in this exciting project, said Niclas Mårtensson, CEO of Stena Line.
We are excited that customers, suppliers, and competitors alike show commitment and collaborate to decarbonize our industry. With eMethanol from this partnership, DFDS is adding a new e-fuel possibility to deliver on our promise, to operate a green vessel latest by 2025, said Torben Carlsen, CEO of DFDS.
With the intent to launch in 2025, this pioneering e-fuels hub venture is a tangible step toward a carbon-neutral shipping industry.
According to the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, eMethanol offers a number of advantages as a marine fuel. It has more manageable handling requirements than other e-fuels and eMethanol engines are already commercially available.
Despite clean, renewable sources of energy being a critically important component of global shipping’s decarbonization efforts, the Center estimates that we’ll need additional support from other levers to fully realize the maritime industry’s zero-carbon ambitions.