One of the principal challenges of shipping’s fuel transition is the lack of global bunkering infrastructure for the marine fuels of the future, including ammonia and hydrogen. To have these fuels available in key ports and terminals would require capital investment running into billions of dollars, experts say, reports Seatrade Maritime.
However, according to analysis by New York broker Poten & Partners, the designs of some proposed LNG terminals are now being assessed to see whether they could be adapted and made ‘ready’ to enable the handling of carbon neutral fuels, thus preventing them from becoming ‘stranded assets’ as the fuel transition progresses.
LNG demand
Global LNG demand totals around 405m metric tonnes a year (MMt/y), Poten estimates, and 180 import terminals in 48 countries have capacity to handle imports of about a billion tonnes a year. However, LNG demand is forecast to rise to about 630 MMt/y by 2040, before being steadily replaced by renewables and other cleaner fuels thereafter.
Alternative ways
Terminal designers are already considering ways in which facilities could be developed for receiving alternative fuels and/or producing hydrogen. Poten cites two examples; one, an LNG terminal is left largely intact, receiving synthetic or green LNG which can then be cracked to hydrogen on an adjacent site with the resulting carbon dioxide captured for sequestration or re-export.
Repurposing products tankers for the carriage of methanol would require all cargo tanks to be recoated as week as possible replacement of cargo lines. Some chemical carriers, those with stainless steel tanks for example, could be suitable but ships with coated tanks might not be compatible with methanol.
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Source: Seatrade Maritime
