Venture forth

OFFSHORE HYBRID ENERGY PARK

• The Dutch-Norwegian company SolarDuck will erect a 5.0MW offshore floating solar farm as part of RWE’s 760+MW Hollandse Kust West (HKW) VII offshore wind energy investment. The project will become operational in 2026. In mid-July 2022, RWE and SolarDuck signed a collaboration agreement to develop floating solar parks. Specifically, to accelerate the learnings on SolarDuck’s floating solar technology, RWE agreed to invest in the first offshore pilot in the North Sea. “This is a flagship project for SolarDuck and an important milestone for the wider OFS [offshore floating solar] industry. SolarDuck, being the first to build a hybrid project at this scale, will demonstrate the robustness of our solution, prove the important role of system integration in building future-fit energy systems, and enable the scaling of the technology to accelerate its adoption,” Koen Burgers, SolarDuck’s CEO, commented. In October 2022, SolarDuck announced it would partake in a joint industry project (24 partners, five observers) to standardise and develop regulations and guidelines for offshore floating solar energy. The HKW VII site is located in the North Sea, about 53 kilometres off the Netherlands’ coast. Once up & running, the farm will produce enough energy to supply almost one million Dutch homes. •

SAMSKIP TO CONTINUE SAILING ON BIOFUELS

• The shipping line has extended its agreement with GoodFuels, committing its four container vessels to carry on running on the latter’s MDF1-100 biofuel. Samskip’s Endeavour, Innovator, Hofell, and Skatafell will sail on the biofuel formulated from sustainable waste streams (from the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive list; the product also holds the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification). According to Samskip, sailing on GoodFuels’ MDF1-100 will result in 45kt CO2 savings by 2022-end. “Sustainable marine biofuels offer a viable way for Samskip to cut CO2 emissions by 90% so that our ships and freight customers reduce their carbon footprint in the interests of the planet. It would take the equivalent of 1.7 million trees to offset this amount of CO2 emissions,” Erik Hofmeester, Samskip’s Head of Vessel Management, said. He furthered, “As part of Samskip’s relationship with GoodFuels, freight owners also become part of a scheme where the lower ocean carbon footprint is auditable as carbon credits in the supply chain.” Following biofuel trials in 2019, Samskip began routinely running main engines on board the 800-TEU Samskip Endeavour as part of services between the Netherlands and Ireland. The company included Innovator on the Netherlands-UK service last year before adding Hoffell and Skatafell on the Iceland-UK-Netherlands route in 2022. Bunkering for all four ships takes place in Rotterdam. “Initially using a biofuel blend which achieved a 30% CO2-reduction, more competitive pricing enabled Samskip to integrate a 100% biofuel from 2021 and achieve the 90%-reduction,” said the company in a press release. Max Verloop, Marketing Lead at GoodFuels, also shared, “Verifiable performance is proving to be a key advantage for sustainable marine biofuels as a drop-in replacement for conventional oils. Clearly, several solutions are required to decarbonize shipping overall, but biofuels are proving their case on scalability – one of the key challenges facing any low carbon fuel alternative.” The two parties also underlined in a joint statement, “In June, IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee published a new ‘Unified Interpretation’ which makes the first explicit acknowledgement that marine biofuels satisfy the requirements of MARPOL (The International Convention on Marine Pollution).” Negotiations are already underway covering a 2023 supply contract, with one scenario on the table extending the agreement to chartered vessels. •

HHLA HANDLES AMMONIA

• The first test shipment of ammonia was brought in a tank container on board one of Hapag-Lloyd’s vessels to HHLA’s Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) in Hamburg. The delivery results from the March 2022-signed agreement between HHLA and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, wanting to test the hydrogen supply chain from the United Arab Emirates to Germany. The ammonia will be used by the Hamburgbased company Aurubis for test runs for the climate-neutral conversion of gas-intensive copper wire production. More ammonia deliveries will be shipped to other customers in Germany in the coming months. “We at HHLA are very proud to be part of the joint, successful development of a secure supply chain for hydrogen carriers from the United Arab Emirates to Germany. In order to use hydrogen and its derivatives as an energy carrier on a large scale in the future, we need a reliable, climate-neutral and efficient transport chain from the producing countries such as the United Arab Emirates to the German and European customers,” Torben Seebold, Member of HHLA’s Executive Board, commented. HHLA says its CTA is climate-neutral, meaning that this part of the ammonia supply chain adds no emissions. •

CIRCLE K’S E-TRUCK CHARGING STATION OPENS IN GOTHENBURG

• The facility offers six public charging points for heavy-duty lorries, with each bay providing up to 360kW of power. There is room for adding more bays (even 1.0MW). Apart from the bays, the facility offers a fenced, CCTV parking lot for about 40 trucks. The station also comprises amenities (showers, toilets, and food & drinks). Within one year, it will be possible to tank hydrogen at the station (720 kg of capacity, one bay, 15 trucks/day). “The station’s opening at exactly the right place, in terms of both timing and location. Serial production of electric heavy goods vehicles is up and running, and vehicles have been ordered by actors with a lot of traffic at the port. By the end of the year, electric heavy trucks will be a common sight in the port, and it will just keep on growing from there. So, this station comes at just the right time – the transition is taking place here and now, and as far as the port is concerned we’re delighted to be able to work with Circle K to provide the necessary infrastructure,” Elvir Dzanic, the Gothenburg Port Authority’s CEO, commented. Lennart Olsson, Senior Manager Pricing at Circle K Sweden, also said, “The station is a magnificent flagship and a real milestone along the way to a future of greener transport operations. We’re incredibly happy and proud to be leading the way on this journey and of what we’ve achieved, such as the collaboration with the port. The station’s strategic location and smart structure mean that we’re well-prepared for the market’s future needs for different fuels. This station has the potential to become an important hub in the transition.” •