Offshore wind turbine maker Vestas and offshore vessel owner Northern Offshore Services (N-O-S) have partnered up to deploy the world’s first methanol-powered offshore crew transfer vessel to drive down emissions from offshore wind service operations.
Vestas has signed a five-year charter to explore how the world’s first methanol-powered crew transfer vessel (CTV) can help reduce carbon emissions from its offshore service operations.
The CTV, provided and developed by N-O-S, will be powered by a dual-fuel solution, capable of being powered by methanol, but also able to fall back on marine gas oil if methanol is not available.
"Green methanol fuel emits significantly lower levels of carbon dioxide, signaling the potential to drastically reduce carbon emissions while maintaining the same power output," Northern Offshore Services said.
“Service vessels drive a significant portion of Vestas’ direct carbon emissions, and while there are several promising new technologies that provide a solution to this challenge, many are still in the early stages of maturity. To drive decarbonization, we need to see solutions like methanol fuel maturing much faster. Industry leaders can accelerate this journey by lending their support, and Vestas is therefore proud to be the first sustainable energy leader to be exploring the use of methanol powered vessels in our service operations,” says, Kieran Walsh, Senior Vice President, Service, Northern & Central Europe, Vestas.
The vessel will be deployed in Vestas’ service operations at the Arcadis Ost site offshore Germany, owned by Parkwind, in 2023.
The companie says that the goal of the charter agreement will be to collect insights into the opportunities and limitations of methanol-powered vessels in offshore service operations.
N-O-S says that CTV holds the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 70 percent in comparison to a traditional vessel, and this carbon reduction potential will be validated during the charter.
“We are pleased that Vestas wants to move forward with Northern Offshore Services on this journey for a sustainable shipping future. With a continuous focus on sustainability, we are developing our vessels to have a lower environmental impact.” says David Kristensson, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Northern Offshore Services.
"Vestas currently runs service operations across 7GW of offshore wind projects in 7 markets, with an ambition to scale up significantly in line with global climate goals. Accounting for one third or Vestas’ scope 1&2 emissions, reducing carbon emissions associated with offshore operations is a high priority in Vestas’ journey towards becoming carbon neutral," Vestas said.