Americas News
Maersk Announces Eighth Green Methanol Bunker Partnership
Container line AP Moller-Maersk has announced its eighth partnership seeking to set up green methanol bunker supply for its first carbon-neutral ships.
The firm has signed a letter of intent with project developer Carbon Sink seeking to set up a green methanol production facility in the US, it said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
The plan is to set up the plant alongside the existing Red River Energy bioethanol facility in Rosholt, South Dakota. The commercial launch is expected in 2027, with production capacity of about 100,000 mt/year and Maersk taking all of the plant's product.
Waste CO2 from the bioethanol plant will be used to make the methanol, combined with hydrogen produced using renewable power.
"Securing green fuels at scale in this decade is critical in our fleet decarbonisation efforts," Berit Hinnemann, head of green fuels sourcing at Maersk, said in the statement.
"We have set a 2040 net zero target for our entire business – but importantly to stay in line with the Paris Agreement, we have also set 2030 targets to ensure meaningful progress in this decade.
"Partnerships are essential on this journey – and I am very pleased to welcome Carbon Sink on board."
Maersk has been the lynchpin of the nascent methanol bunker industry over the past two years, both by announcing its first green ships would use methanol propulsion and by subsequently signing deals guaranteeing that supply of the alternative fuel would be ramped up at an appropriate pace.
The Carbon Sink deal is Maersk's eighth green methanol production partnership. The container line has previously said it will need about 6 million mt/year of green methanol for its new carbon-neutral ships by 2030.
