CONGRESS REVIEW
FUTURE FUELS: CHANGING THE FACE OF THE INDUSTRY GreenPort Cruise & Congress 2021 hosted by the Port of Piraeus or exceeded the expectations of the majority of the industry. Here are some of the exclusives gained at the event, by news reporter, Rebecca Jeffrey
Ammonia investment challenges
Aiding green hydrogen Ammonia demand comes to the fore when looking at the challenges of using more green hydrogen and how this can be financed. “The biggest problem is to produce the ammonia needed for hydrogen because in the future everybody wants it. If hydrogen is also the base for other e-fuels then you need it in a huge amount,” stressed Mr Siegert. Establishing production sites that produce enough hydrogen to supply the whole maritime industry, and also other sectors where it is in demand remains to be seen, he said. “We have lots of hydrogen, but not green hydrogen, so it’s important to produce it in a way that it’s sustainable.” Is methanol a winner? Although ports have been working on safe LNG handling for
Electric grid challenges Shore power investment is more widespread than ever, but can ports handle electric grid challenges? Capacity is one of the biggest concerns for ports offering onshore power supply (OPS), as shipping companies embrace decarbonisation and both shore power-enabled and battery-propelled ships increase in numbers, said Alex Ruijs, senior consultant for electrical power and energy within the water & maritime team at Royal HaskoningDHV. Speaking exclusively to GreenPort, Mr Ruijs explained: “The challenge for shore power is that we will have more and more ships with batteries onboard that are used for propulsion.” As battery systems advance and ships are able to sail for longer on batteries, these ships are recharging at ports, which can surge the shore power system. Larger ships running on batteries will mean more OPS consumption. Currently OPS for container ships are rated for 8MVA maximum. Ships in most cases do not require more
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Photo: Azane Fuel Solutions
Ammonia needs to be treated with caution but has valuable green credentials. Speaking exclusively to GreenPort, Malte Siegert, head of environmental policy at Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) said that while ammonia use comes with safety concerns, green ammonia has zero emissions and is therefore an attractive development prospect. “Ammonia has no carbon and you don’t have to have any after treatment, which makes it most likely cheaper to use.” Money plays a very important role in the energy transition, he pointed out. “There are safety aspects that have to be dealt with in the ports, but you can use ammonia for fuel cells, therefore it seems to be a very good thing,” Mr Siegert said. years, and have extended their learnings to other fuels, the dangers of ammonia shouldn’t be underestimated, said Mr Siegert. “The bad thing is it’s so toxic - it has an impact on the marine environment. There have always been solutions for flammable and toxic goods in ports, and the good thing is ammonia doesn’t last as long as HFO in water, but you cannot avoid the outcome of an accidental spill in the instance of it being used as a shipping fuel.” Ammonia appears difficult to handle and it’s doubtful that it will be used for large-scale applications, said Mr Siegert. Instead, it might be better to focus on methanol development. “There might be some specific areas where it is used, but for a larger scale application I doubt it, methanol might be the better thing because you don’t have to cool it down.”
8 Azane Fuel Solutions’ ‘Ammonia Fuel Bunkering Network’ project aims to develop, build and operate a green ammonia bunkering terminal
than 5MVA but as bigger ships with batteries emerge, OPS at ports will need to have more power output, Mr Ruijs explained. “Shore power systems will need to have more power output in the future as demand increases. They might need to be redesigned because of this,” he said. Though ship batteries require significant grid power, battery packs are a sound investment for ports looking to secure a backup to the grid. In the Netherlands, grid suppliers have a fixed price for grid connections up to 10MVA and electricity needs to be offered obligatorily. In countries where grid operators call the shots this isn’t the case, other solutions are needed like battery chargers. “Redundant capacity in the grid is one of the cheapest solutions but has limitations in the instance of a failure or maintenance issue,” Mr Ruijs pointed out. He explained: “The battery pack can be charged when there is a low demand for shore power and demand is lower than the maximum capacity of the grid connection. When it’s the
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