Wärtsilä to Retrofit Ethylene Tanker with Pilot Carbon Capture and Storage System

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä will be working with a Norwegian shipping company to install a full-scale carbon capture and storage system on board one of the company’s existing ethylene tankers.

Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment has signed a Letter of Intent with Solvang ASA to design and retrofit the 2019-built Clipper Eos with a pilot CCS system by 2023.

The agreement is the latest related to Wärtsilä’s research and development into carbon capture as a way for the shipping industry to decarbonize. With the pilot unit, Wärtsilä is initially aiming for a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions at the point of exhaust.

The installation will take place after a land-based 1MW test system is completed at Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment’s headquarters in Moss, Norway, later this year.

“Joining forces with Solvang to build and retrofit a commercially viable CCS technology demonstrates to the industry that we are only two or three years away from bringing to market another vital tool in shipping’s decarbonisation toolkit,” said Sigurd Jenssen, Director at Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment. “We are excited to see how this collaboration with Solvang evolves in the coming months. Our land-based test unit is nearing completion, and we will then move to making it a reality on the Clipper Eos, ensuring that both Wärtsilä and Solvang remain at the forefront of maritime sustainability technology advancement.”

The 21,000 cbm “Clipper Eos” has been on time charter with Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp. since its delivery. The company will be working with Solvang and Wärtsilä to allow for all relevant testing and installation of equipment as part of a mutual effort to reduce the CO2 footprint of the vessel.

“Carbon capture and storage is an exciting development that we are proud to support, and strongly believe that this technology could be an important key to decarbonize the world’s deep-sea fleet. As a forward-thinking company that is equally passionate about ensuring the industry’s transition to decarbonisation, Wärtsilä is the perfect partner as we look to scale up sustainable technologies across our fleet and reduce shipping’s environmental impact on the world,” added Edvin Endresen, CEO at Solvang ASA.

Wärtsilä also recently announced it is partnering with the “linking carbon capture and storage” (LINCCS) consortium to scale and create carbon capture technologies and infrastructure. In September, it was announced that the LINCCS consortium would receive 111m Norwegian kroner in funding over the next three years from the Norwegian government’s Green Platform Initiative.

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