Wärtsilä Lands First Order for Carbon Capture-Ready Scrubbers

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä announced its first order for carbon capture and storage-ready scrubber systems, marking a major milestone in its efforts to combat climate change.

The order, which was booked in November 2022 and is expected to be delivered in 2023, marks the first time that Wärtsilä has received an order for its CCS technologies on a vessel.

The CCS-ready scrubbers will be fitted on four 8,200 TEU containerships being built at an undisclosed Asian-based yard. The 35MW scrubbers come in an open loop configuration.

The scrubbers are termed CCS-Ready because, as part of their installation, Wärtsilä will perform additional design and engineering work to ensure that future retrofits for a full CCS system on the vessels have already been accounted for during the newbuilding construction stage. Moreover, the technology can be installed on various kinds of vessels depending on their requirements, not only containerships.

The CCS-Ready scrubbers will be designed with adequate space for the future installation of the CCS system, incorporate considerations for minimizing idle load and optimizing utilities, and prepare the control and automation system accordingly. They will also be designed for integration with a Particulate Matter filter.

By installing scrubbers that have been designed with the space and capabilities to have a CCS unit added, Wärtsilä is enabling ship owners to future-proof their existing assets, while remaining competitive and compliant. This assures the undisclosed ship owner that they have continued regulatory compliance for SOx emissions today and opens the door to smooth CCS system adoption in the future.

Wärtsilä’s CCS system is currently being tested at a 70% capture rate, and a pilot installation is scheduled to take place within the next twelve months. With this new order for CCS-Ready scrubbers, Wärtsilä is taking a significant step towards a greener future for the shipping industry.

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