Europe’s ‘first’ green methanol powered bunker barge

The barge, being deployed at the Port of Rotterdam in 2024, will apparently be the first green inland waterway craft in Europe to also serve as a methanol bunker delivery vessel both delivering and operating on green methanol.

“Methanol as a marine fuel has been established in the ocean going fleet for close to a decade, whereas the inland fleet is lagging,” said Bashir Lebada, CEO of OCI Methanol.

“This innovative project demonstrates the viability of green methanol for the existing inland fleet, providing an option to extend the lifetime of existing assets while decarbonising our inland waterways.”

Green development

The barge retrofit project will be managed by Unibarge, which has selected the technology and equipment partners. OCI will take the barge on a long-term time charter and employ it in its regular trade, as well as using it to offer a full end-to-end bunker solution to larger vessels delivering OCI Hyfuels green methanol.

As well as green methanol, the barge will also be able to run on renewable and low-carbon methanol fuel, as well as conventional biofuels.

Unibarge said that the project will provide a huge opportunity for existing barges to make a significant step by retrofitting existing engines, replacing gasoil with green methanol as the main fuel.

By consuming green methanol, the barge has the potential to reduce the amount of particulate matter emitted in inland waterways by 90%, improving air quality and offering a better environment for local marine life.

In June 2022, OCI announced the Final Investment Decision for its ammonia import terminal expansion project in the Port of Rotterdam to triple throughput capacity to 1.2 million tonnes by 2023.

The terminal is strategically located to facilitate bunkering to ocean-going vessels and to act as a hub for hydrogen imported in the form of ammonia to meet Europe’s expected future hydrogen deficit.

Methanol bunker volumes have only recently been added to the Port of Rotterdam’s official bunker statistics, but volumes are on the up, rising, from 500 mt in Q3 2022 to 1,000 mt in Q4.