Ørsted to develop Power-to-X-facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast to fuel Maersk’s newly ordered fleet of 12 methanol-powered vessels, as the industry leaders sign letter of intent (LOI) on record-breaking offtake agreement for green fuels in the maritime industry.
A.P. Moller - Maersk and Ørsted have signed a letter of intent (LOI) about partnering on a new Power-to-X facility in the US which can become a landmark project in the green transformation of international deep-water shipping and set the standard for future large-scale production of green maritime fuels.
On the US Gulf Coast, Ørsted will develop a 675 MW Power-to-X facility that will produce approx. 300,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year, which Maersk will offtake for its newly ordered fleet of 12 methanol-powered vessels.
The facility will be powered by approx. 1.2GW of renewable energy from new onshore wind and solar PV farms. The biogenic carbon needed to produce e-methanol will be extracted through carbon capture at one or more large point sources.
The project is targeted to be commissioned in the second half of 2025, making it by far the most ambitious project globally producing e-methanol at scale and a driving force in the decarbonisation journey of the maritime sector. Final investment decision could be made in late 2023.
The 300,000 tonnes of e-methanol are the largest potential offtake agreement for green fuels in the maritime industry ever announced, and it is a testimony to the action taken to shape green ocean transport by both Ørsted and Maersk.
The agreement also marks Ørsted’s entry into the US Power-to-X market, a new strategic market for the company as it seeks to construct 50 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
The Power-to-X project in the U.S. Gulf Coast region is the second green fuels collaboration between Ørsted and Maersk after the potentially 1,300 MW Green Fuels for Denmark project in Copenhagen, which the two companies are partnering on with other large offtakers.
Ørsted and Maersk will continue to investigate opportunities within green fuels together, as Maersk works towards its 2040 net-zero commitment.
In total, Ørsted’s Power-to-X development pipeline consists of 11 projects, including the 70 MW FlagshipOne project in Sweden, which Ørsted is developing together with Liquid Wind.
FlagshipOne is targeted to be commissioned in 2024 and could become one of the world’s first large-scale sustainable e-methanol facilities. In addition to the project pipeline, Ørsted has entered into several strategic agreements with a variety of partners. ■
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