In the framework of Sea Tech Week, 5 European brother projects organised a workshop under a common banner to facilitate discussions and build synergies between Atlantic and Nord Sea Areas: Green Supply Chains, HYDEA, North Sea H2 Valley Ports, DIOL and READII Ports. This workshop gave an overview of strategic challenges related to the transition to green fuels for the maritime sector. It also provided a common vision and framework to set out a roadmap shared by ports, shipping companies and energy industries.
Context
Energy transition is a core strategy of the European Commission with challenging steps to “green” the maritime transport. In this context, is hydrogen or how hydrogen is a response to the market? With the FuelEU Maritime regulation, greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, and maritime emissions being monitored under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) as of 2024, shipowners are incentivised to adopt renewable liquid and gaseous fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) to decarbonise their fleet. However, shipping companies, ports and energy providers must work together to set out common strategies and roadmaps. The price gap between e-fuels for shipping and conventional fuels is a barrier, but there are other challenges including refuelling capacities to switch to RFNBO in this sector.
There is a need of switching to alternative fuels questions our European and national capacities at ensuring their availability on the long run, over the production, storage and distribution chains. But several questions remain: how securing the supply, what are the risks associated to changing regulations, how will we secure the change of scale between small- and large-scale usage of new fuels and electricity, and how to finance the change?
Ensuring availability of sufficient quantities of hydrogen and green fuels will require a smooth or adaptative transition from natural gas and oil to various colours of hydrogen. Then, how the regulation can support these development steps, even though these steps would not be carbon free at the beginning? And how is the ETS and carbon exchange market is foreseen to work along the steps?
Agenda
16 October 2024 | Brest, France
Green fuels for the maritime sector: challenges, risks and ways forward
Session 1 | The use of hydrogen for maritime applications – Feedbacks and visions
Chairs: Jens Henrik MØLLE (GEMBA Consulting)
- Opening speech
- New energies – Holistic safety perspective by Carsten MØLLER (Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology) > Slides in PDF
- Shipping as leader of the transition
- Experience of end-to-end implementation of LNG and hydrogen for the maritime and terrestrial transport, by Deepak MEHTA (Movin’On) > Slides in PDF
- From concepts to pilot exploitation and operational exploitation of green energies in the maritime sector, by Didier BOUIX (Energy Observer) > Slides in PDF
- Ports as energy hubs and nodes of the maritime energy corridors
- Jan VINCKE (Port of Hamburg) > Slides in PDF
- Elisa OYONARTE (Port of Seville) > Slides in PDF
- Luís MONTEIRO (Ports of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo) > Slides in PDF
- Marc ITGEN, excused (Ingenion/ Port of Cuxhaven)
- Energy transition in port and port logistics
- State of art and vision by Javier GALEANO and Pilar LEON (Evolution Synergétique) > Slides in PDF
- Discussion with the panellists and the audience
- The ports, short sea shipping, and energy terminals
Session 2 | Sustainability of hydrogen and e-fuels – Towards a common framework and roadmap
Chairs: Jens Henrik MØLLE (GEMBA Consulting)
- Opening speech
- Cooperation and coordination to create hydrogen valley, hydrogen ports valley and maritime corridors – Emphasise on ports and short sea shipping, by Koen STAMOU (New Energy Coalition) > Slides in PDF
- Derisking the supply and support through regulations
- Securing the supply of green fuels, by Deepak MEHTA (Movin’On) > Slides in PDF
- Focus on regulations and the especially crucial ship repairing activities, by Jean-Marc ECOBICHON and Sylvain MORVAN (DAMEN Shiprepair) > Slides in PDF
- Discussion with the panellists and the audience
- Financial and economic capacities, cooperation within the EU framework, next steps and roadmaps
17:30 – 19:00 | Visit of the Port of Brest facilities
Photo credit: Sea Tech Week
