Evergreen explores Taiwanese green fuel production

The announcement follows the signature of a memorandum of cooperation between Evergreen and Danish green investment fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) on 20 October to jointly explore production and usage of carbon-neutral e-fuels.

The two companies note the collaboration will extend beyond the production of renewable fuels in Taiwan based on offshore wind to include the exploration of green fuels such as e-ammonia and e-methanol. CIP is currently constructing and developing several offshore wind farms in Taiwan. Taiwan is understood to be exploring the possibility of reducing its requirements for imported fossil fuels by expanding domestic production of future fuel types.

The agreement follows Evergreen’s recent announcement of a significant order for dual-fuel methanol-fuelled container vessels in July, when Evergreen Shipping’s subsidiary Evergreen Marine (Asia) placed an order with Samsung Heavy Industries for 16 x 16,000 teu container vessel newbuildings, and a separate order for 8 x 16,000 teu with Japan’s Nihon Shipyard.

At the time of the order, The Motorship noted that Evergreen had not clarified its plans for operating the vessels on renewable methanol, and identified the sourcing of carbon neutral methanol as a key constraint.  

The Motorship notes that Evergreen’s announcement follows a spate of recent renewable methanol focused announcements by major container operators, including Maersk, CMA CGM and COSCO Shipping. The Motorship notes that Maersk and CMA CGM announced plans to collaborate on the development of the use of alternative greener fuels for container vessel propulsion in September.