London-based Carbon War Room (CWR) has come up with a new proposal to offer a grant of up to $200,000 to shipowners and charterers who can show a minimum of 10-15% efficiency gains by installing their vessels with a bundle of proven energy efficiency technology. A third party analysis, based on continuous monitoring of the equipment would be done, in order to be verified, measured and quantified. This could then be used as the “proof of concept” for the entire industry.
CWR has already done a study and analysed 100 existing ships that have been retrofitted with a bundle energy saving technologies, and these study results have shown great energy savings. These include antifouling coatings, advanced hull coatings, ducts, fins and new propellers.
Earlier, CWR came up with a report titled “Hidden Treasure – Financial Models for Shipping Retrofits”, that provided a viable financing model linking fuel savings directly to repayment.
20% of global shipping tonnage is represented by shipping charterers. They, now have policies in place to avoid the use of inefficient ships based on the GHG emission ratings. Also, Shipping banks including HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank, confirm that energy efficiency data and ratings such as the A to G GHG emission ratings form an important part of risk assessment, investments and financing decisions. They would, therefore, consider less efficient vessels as high-risk investments. It also goes to prove that a more energy efficient ship will command better revenue potential, marketability and have a better risk profile for financiers and shipowners.
Therefore, this technology bundle could yield economic benefits by positioning the vessel for long term financial gains beyond the immediate 200,000 USD award.
This project is funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery, which recently awarded €1,000,000 to Rocky Mountain Institute and CWR to expand their efforts in the shipping industry. The grant will cover a portion of the total retrofit bundle, with at least 50% of the remaining technology costs to be financed by a third party.
Senior Associate, CWR, Victoria Stulgis is quoted to have said “This is an opportunity to highlight the savings from a technology bundle approach through analysis of real, operational data. We’re excited to work with a forward-thinking owner or charterer to deliver a model that can be easily scaled across the industry, save money, and reduce emissions at the same time.”
Source: Carbon War Room
