Alternative fuels for shipping. Only the largest operators are investing in e-fuels [REPORT]
As many as 80 projects producing alternative fuels, including green hydrogen, should be operational by 2026. Many of them can already supply eco-friendly fuels to power ship engines. Full commissioning should enable bunkering with fuels representing over 3.6 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) by 2032, according to T&E’s latest report on e-fuels in maritime transport, which was updated in December 2025.
Demand is being driven by major shipowners. In December 2025, Ocean Network Express announced the christening of a new container ship, ONE Satisaction (IMO: 1023035, 13,900 TEU, 336 m long and 51 m wide, Singaporean flag, later Liberian flag). Like other ships in this series ordered by this operator, the main engine will be environmentally friendly and can be powered by a system based on methanol and hydrogen. Hiroshima Shipbuilding is building a series of 20 ships with e-fuel engines for ONE. GospodarkaMorska.pl reported on this here.
Leaders in the production of green e-fuels, which can be used in maritime shipping, include Spain, Denmark, Norway, and France. Many companies have increased their interest in building green fuel production facilities following the European Union’s announcement of €2 billion in financial support for investments in November 2025.
This amount should be used to ensure that alternative fuels flow to shipowners in 2027. Some countries have decided to seize the opportunity and are supporting domestic companies that could emerge as potential suppliers of e-fuels for maritime transport.
Commercial Methanol Production
The Kassø e-methanol plant in Aabenraa, Denmark, has been operating for over six months. It is the world’s largest commercial Power-to-X installation producing green methanol. The transformation of the Kassø industrial region into a national industrial park and green energy hub will be completed in 2026.
The Kassø Solar Park, one of the largest in Northern Europe (over 304 MW), is already operational here. Solar panels imported from China occupy approximately 300 hectares. Power for the entire industrial zone is provided by energy infrastructure, which includes a key transformer station (400 kV) connecting the Danish and German power grids.
Google and Apple have secured investment land in this region to install data centers with access to significant green energy resources. During an inspection of the installation, it turned out that unexplained electronic components were found in imported equipment for the Danish power grid, according to industry group Green Power Denmark.
Electronics spying on infrastructure?
“This concerns printed circuit boards that were supposed to be part of energy system components,” Jorgen Christensen, technical director of Green Power Denmark, told Reuters. Christensen said: “We don’t know how critical this incident is or whether there’s malicious intent behind it,” reports Stine Jacobsen of Reuters in Copenhagen.
The Danish Ministry of Preparedness and Resilience (Ministeriet for Samfundssikkerhed og Beredskab) declined to comment on whether an investigation had been launched. The Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Energy, and the Intelligence Services did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Christensen declined to tell Reuters which country the equipment came from, who led the investigation, or provide details about the components’ capabilities, including whether they were intended for solar equipment.
The unusual electronic components were discovered during a routine inspection of printed circuit boards intended to be installed in equipment powering Denmark’s energy systems. The circuit boards could have been designed for different purposes, which could explain the presence of additional components, but Christensen emphasized that they should not be placed in equipment intended for energy infrastructure.
“It’s possible the supplier had no malicious intent. We can’t say that now, but that doesn’t change the fact that these components shouldn’t have been there,” Christensen said.
Reuters previously reported that US energy officials found suspicious communication devices in Chinese solar inverters and batteries that could potentially bypass firewalls and destabilize power grids, Stine Jacobsen and Sarah McFarlane of Reuters report from Copenhagen.
This information is significant considering that the facility, developed by European Energy and operated in partnership with Mitsui & Co., is owned by Solar Park Kassø ApS. It operates under the Kassø MidCo ApS subsidiary. European Energy A/S holds a 51% stake, and Mitsui & Co. 49%. The Kassø e-methanol plant supplies e-methanol to industry leaders. Key customers include global players such as A.P. Moller – Maersk, the LEGO Group, and Novo Nordisk. These companies emphasize in their strategies their ambition to grow their businesses using solutions with lower carbon emissions.
Ane Maersk, fot. MaerskMaersk – Going Methanol-Focused
AP Moller-Maersk has long emphasized its leadership in achieving net-zero emissions by 2040 through new technologies, new ships, and sustainable fuels. The Danish shipping company became the first shipping company to be recognized by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for its efforts to decarbonize maritime transport. Maersk has set ambitious goals, including a 35% reduction in Scope 1 emissions by 2030. The 2040 target assumes a 96% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 90% reduction in Scope 3 emissions.
A key element of this strategy is the consistent introduction of 18 methanol-powered container ships, with delivery scheduled for 2024 and 2025. The first was the Ane Maersk (launched in 2023). One of these was the A.P. Møller. Built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, it can carry 16,592 standard containers (TEU). Seven ships of this size, with methanol engines, will join Maersk’s fleet in 2024. The next additions will follow in 2025. The Danish shipowner’s ships will be able to bunker fuel produced at a Danish plant with EU funding.
Kassø Hydrogen and Solar Park
The Kassø plant is the first of its kind in the world to produce e-methanol on a commercial scale. The plant has an annual production capacity of 42,000 tonnes and runs entirely on renewable energy sources. Working in conjunction with the 304 MW Kassø Solar Park, the facility integrates large-scale renewable energy generation with carbon capture and utilization. The designers emphasize that “By combining biogenic CO2 with green hydrogen produced on-site, the Kassø e-methanol plant produces e-methanol with up to 97% reduced carbon footprint compared to fossil-based products.”
The methanol produced at Kassø will not only be used as bunker fuel for Maersk ships. The e-methanol produced here will also be used in industrial processes that have traditionally used fossil-based methanol. One such application is the production of plastics. This applies to plants where manufacturers strive to use sustainable materials while maintaining safety and quality standards. This includes plants belonging to the LEGO Group and Novo Nordisk.
Mitsui & Co. has contributed strategic expertise and global reach to support the long-term development and operation of the facility. The collaboration between European Energy and Mitsui reflects a shared ambition to accelerate the commercial path for Power-to-X technology and expand the use of low-emission alternatives in challenging environments. sectors around the world.
Green Methanol in Tons
The majority of green hydrogen and e-fuel production is concentrated in Spain, Denmark, Norway, and France. A significant portion of these volumes is expected to be allocated, at least in part, to supplying the maritime sector – 100% in France, 63% in Spain, 53% in Norway, and 42% in Denmark, according to T&E’s latest report on e-fuels in maritime transport. However, the situation changes when looking only at volumes primarily intended for shipping.
Nearly a quarter of Norway’s projected volumes are destined for shipping as the main end user, primarily via e-ammonia, T&E reports. On the other hand, the leading countries included in the T&E observatory’s analyses allocate only small volumes to the maritime sector – 0.02 Mtoe in Denmark and 0.05 Mtoe in Spain. Finland is the only other country with a single e-methanol project dedicated to the maritime sector (0.05 Mtoe).
Recent market research by T&E shows that volumes are below the 1% e-fuel target set by FuelEU by 2031 and significantly below the 2% sub-target for 2034. Analysts warn that in the absence of clear EU and national policies combined with dedicated financial incentives, European e-fuel targets for shipping will likely be achieved using imported fuels or not at all.
Bureau Veritas: A “Well-to-Wake” Approach Is Needed
A few years ago, Bureau Veritas (BV) published a detailed white paper forecasting the future of marine fuels. The white paper details alternative fuels for the shipping industry, taking into account technological maturity, availability, safety, emissions, and regulations. It anticipates virtually all the risks that hinder the decarbonization of shipping and calls for a “well-to-wake” (WtW) approach, climate impact assessment, and the sustainability of alternative fuels.
Paul Delouche, Chief Strategy Officer at Bureau Veritas and lead author of the report, stated that achieving decarbonization in the context of WtW will require unprecedented collaboration and transparency with supply and production chains, including a wide range of stakeholders, from energy and chemical suppliers to governments and financial institutions. A range of incentives, including legal regulations and market-based measures developed by regional and global regulators, will also influence the industry. In reality, proposals regarding the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime could result in significant taxation and penalties for ships.
Climate goals and the introduction of alternative fuels for shipping in the European Union are slipping away. Swoops like the Danish plant do not usher in the industrial-scale decarbonization of maritime transport. However, the innovative nature of the projects that have propelled the Danish economy and Maersk to the forefront of energy transformation should be recognized. They are paving the way for their successors to follow in about 10 to 20 years.
