Floating ammonia bunkering terminals will likely be key to deliberate community
Norwegian plans for a inexperienced ammonia bunkering community first announced in April 2022 are making progress. State-owned power large Equinor has turn into a associate within the “AFNO 2030 – Ammonia fuel for the Norwegian offshore sector 2025-2030” undertaking.
While Equinor has turn into a significant participant in inexperienced power areas equivalent to offshore wind, it began life as Noroil. It nonetheless will get most of its revenues from pure gasoline and oil, however has lengthy been dedicated to creating their manufacturing as inexperienced as attainable. The AFNO 2023 undertaking will research how clear ammonia may be launched as a gasoline to decarbonize the Norwegian offshore sector and can cowl logistical optimization, operational planning, and security features.
Ammonia’s attraction as a clear gasoline is that it may be burned in an engine or a gasoline cell however doesn’t include carbon and thus no CO2 is emitted. Key challenges to be overcome embrace issues of safety associated to ammonia toxicity and corrosiveness.
AFNO 2030 deliberate actions are divided in three predominant classes:
- Develop an estimated ammonia gasoline demand timeline.
- Develop a gasoline provide worth chain growth plan.
- Perform site-specific location planning for bunkering.
“We look forward to working with Equinor to showcase how clean ammonia can be utilized to decarbonize the Norwegian offshore sector. Equinor can play an important role in the maritime green shift – as a first mover to utilize the fuel, technologies and bunkering infrastructure required for the industry to make the leap” says Håkon Skjerstad, newly appointed CEO at Azane Fuel Solutions.
The undertaking expands upon the groundwork laid by the “AFBN – Ammonia fuel bunkering network” undertaking throughout the previous two years in. Led by Azane Fuel Solutions in a consortium that features companions like Yara Clean Ammonia, SINTEF, and Fjord Base (Norway’s largest offshore provide base), the undertaking has now welcomed Equinor as an related associate
In April 2022 Yara introduced that it had pre-ordered as much as 15 ammonia bunkering terminals to sufficiently cowl the Scandinavian market in a multi-year contract with Azane Fuel Solutions. The community of carbon-free floating bunkering terminals is a significant step in the direction of making transport fossil-fuel free.
One of Azane Fuel Solutions’ associates is Amon Maritime, which is concerned in a lot of ammonia fueled vessel initiatives, and whose Amon Offshore unit has developed a design for an ammonia-fueled PSV that obtained an approval in precept from DNV in March 2022, adopted in May 2022 by preliminary flag from the Norwegian Maritime Authorities.
“We look forward to working with Equinor to showcase how clean ammonia can be utilized to decarbonize the Norwegian offshore sector. Equinor can play an important role in the maritime green shift – as a first mover to utilize the fuel, technologies and bunkering infrastructure required for the industry to make the leap” says Håkon Skjerstad, newly appointed CEO at Azane Fuel Solutions.
