Wärtsilä is leading the way in maritime decarbonisation, providing shipping companies with technologies that lay the groundwork for a low and eventually net-zero carbon future.
In recent years, shipping’s emissions have come under more scrutiny than ever before. COP26 was a standout event for shipping, where it featured high on the agenda, and discussions resulted in strong pledges from many attendees. This includes initiatives, such as the Clydebank Declaration, under which nations agreed to work together to support the establishment of green shipping corridors.
Now, the United Nations’ COP27 conference sees world leaders and global industries meet once again to discuss climate change. While shipping is less central on this year’s agenda than last year, at COP27 there is an array of side events focused on maritime decarbonisation and creating a safe and sustainable ocean economy, essentially working on the delivery of the pledges made and actions agreed last year. These conversations will likely centre around financing decarbonisation, the carbon market, as well as more stringent rules on emissions, such as methane slip.
Add to that the mounting pressure from customers for shipping companies to rapidly reduce their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and the maritime industry is left with a prime opportunity to rapidly accelerate its energy transition.
Meanwhile, progress has been made towards balancing the trio of competing priorities of sustainability, security, and finance in the maritime industry. Some major maritime players are taking steps towards ensuring the industry meets full decarbonisation by 2050 in the safest, securest, and most sustainable way through collaborative initiatives including the Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero Coalition and Poseidon Principles.
These projects – in which Wärtsilä is also involved – are spurring the development of future fuels, digital tools, and abatement technologies that can support the industry’s mission to a greener future. But there is still work to be done in developing shipping’s infrastructure and energy sources. So, what more can the industry do to achieve the ultimate challenge of maritime decarbonisation, and do it at an accelerated pace?
A holistic approach to decarbonisation
It has become increasingly understood that ship owners and operators need to act even more quickly if they are to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2030 and 2050 targets and support global climate goals. At the same time, they must do this while remaining profitable.
Without a single ‘silver bullet’ solution, pursuing a strategy of technological flexibility and working with partners that have platforms of systems that remain adaptable to new fuels and future regulations as they emerge is the only sensible course.
With the combination of deep domain expertise in power and propulsion solutions, voyage optimisation and digital technologies, as well as exhaust gas abatement and gas handling technologies, Wärtsilä is bursting with innovations and insight. All this greatly contributes towards the immense challenge and opportunity of decarbonising the shipping industry.
Alternative fuels – decarbonisation’s heavy hitters
A major part of shipping’s decarbonisation journey will be the use of zero-carbon fuels, either on their own or blended with conventional fuels or alternative power sources. Steps can be taken today that unlock a wider range of fuel options and possibilities for the future.
As future fuel pathways are so complex and fleet compositions are so different, owners, charterers, and operators each need to find a bespoke way forward. One of the main ways the market is responding to this is via its growing demand for engines that can run on multiple different fuels.
Wärtsilä’s new W25 engine is a prime example of moving towards this concept. The engine is already capable of operating on diesel, LNG, or either gas or liquid carbon-neutral biofuels, and can easily be upgraded to operate with future low or zero-carbon fuels as they become available.
W25 is intended to be the first engine to run on ammonia as a fuel in our portfolio, and development is currently underway with a technology concept ready for 2023, followed by a planned product release soon thereafter.
Similarly, the Wärtsilä W46TS-DF, released earlier in 2022, features a modular design, which means every part of the engine can be replaced as needed. This approach also makes it more cost-effective and straightforward to upgrade to run on carbon-neutral fuels, such as green methanol in the future.
We will also see the first Wärtsilä commercial newbuilding methanol engine in service in early 2023, which follows many full-scale engine tests that assess the optimum engine parameters for running on hydrogen and ammonia.
At the same time, biofuels can be a powerful emissions reduction solution, and will play a valuable role in lowering emissions without a capital-intensive fleet renewal or retrofitting in the short to medium term, particularly if they are deployed as blends. As a demonstration of drop-in biofuel’s viability in the alternative fuels mix, the recent partnership with Holland America Line and GoodFuels saw sustainable biofuel deployed in Wärtsilä’s ZA40 engine onboard the Volendam to immediately reduce the vessel’s CO2, SOx and NOx emissions.
Wärtsilä is also pioneering solutions that will help to directly combat the biggest pollutant of them all – CO2 – via modular exhaust gas abatement technologies, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) innovations.
Exhaust treatment solutions helped to ensure compliance for ship owners and operators with IMO 2020 by reducing sulphur emissions. Now, based on experience in scaling this technology across shipping, scrubbers can serve as the foundation from which other pollutants can be addressed.
Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment has established a model where technologies can work together in the stack and throughout the exhaust chain. Thanks to their modularity, scrubbers form the foundation of a CCS solution for ships; a powerful tool that could enable owners and operators to make significant reductions in their Greenhouse Gas emissions for both existing and newbuild vessels.
In December 2021, a land-based CCS test unit was installed in Moss, Norway which has already shown promising results by capturing around 70% of CO2 emissions. The next stage of this ambitious journey is a pilot retrofit installation of our CCS system on onboard Solvang’s ethylene carrier Clipper Eos next year. This is a clear demonstration of the CCS technology’s commercial and technical viability to comply with environmental legislation and reduce shipping’s CO2 emissions.
Flexibility and modularity are key, which is why different configurations are available for CCS units and how the technology can be suitable for all ship types. The onboard storage of the captured CO2 can be achieved in different ways, e.g. by using deck tanks or container tanks.
If all ships with a Wärtsilä scrubber install CCS and operate it at a 70% capture rate, this would equate to a 30 million tonne reduction in CO2 emissions across the industry. That gives a reduction potential for the scrubber-fitted fleet alone of 200 million tonnes, or about 20% of current maritime GHG emissions.
By providing scrubber-enabled CCS technologies, ship owners and operators will be empowered to reduce emissions in the short and medium term before low-carbon fuels emerge.
Digital technology – connecting the dots
Wärtsilä also recognises that digitalisation is a key piece of the decarbonisation puzzle. Wärtsilä provides cutting-edge digital technology to futureproof operations and enable the maritime industry to tackle the toughest global challenges. This includes helping the industry to profitably decarbonise, which requires solutions that span the entire maritime ecosystem, from the engine room to the bridge, to the board room, and from ship to shore.
Wärtsilä’s portfolio of solutions ensure optimised operations, improving connection from sea to shore, helping shipping companies make the most of data, and supporting them in navigating the complex and changing regulatory environment. This empowers maritime stakeholders to achieve the sector’s emissions reduction targets and make tangible progress on evolving the way it operates.
The latest digital solution under Wärtsilä’s belt is its Fleet Optimisation Solution (FOS) – a holistic data analysis, voyage planning and performance management platform that can help maritime stakeholders run vessels and fleets with optimal safety, efficiency, and sustainability. FOS provides a central overview of a fleet and its performance, directly supporting users’ digitalisation goals and enabling their decarbonisation trajectories by creating optimisations today that can underpin future efficiency decisions, all based on the very best data analysis.
By linking unique digital expertise with well-established Performance Services, Wärtsilä is taking the next step in creating end-to-end digital solutions for maritime customers. It is perfectly positioned to connect the dots, offering solutions that help break down silos, overcome fragmentation, and deliver a complete view of the entire fleet or vessel ecosystem.
Wärtsilä forms strong and long-lasting partnerships with customers, supporting them throughout their ongoing digital journeys. This is just the beginning of that journey for many companies. Excitingly, collaborating on digitalisation now lays the groundwork for technologies that can have an even more profound future impact on efficiency, sustainability, and safety.
The need to reduce GHG emissions is an unprecedented challenge, but it is also an opportunity that requires collaboration. Everyone in the industry has an important role to play in supporting the energy transition in maritime, and Wärtsilä is ready to engage in building a brighter, decarbonised future for the maritime industry of tomorrow. Each vessel will require its own solutions, and Wärtsilä is providing a wide suite of solutions to support every ship owner’s pathway. It’s possible to start making progress today. What will your next step be on the energy transition journey?
