Shipping E-fuels Observatory
T&E’s shipping e-fuels observatory maps existing, confirmed, and planned green hydrogen and e-fuels production sites that could target the maritime sector.
Overview of the projects
We counted 15 Chinese e-fuels projects at different development stages with an estimated production of 1.72 Mtoe by 2029: 11 of those are targeting primarily the maritime sector with 1.50 Mtoe, while four target shipping among other industrial sectors with 0.22 Mtoe. These e-fuel volumes could help shipping companies comply with maritime green e-fuels mandates established at the national, regional, or global level. This is reinforced by the fact that three of those projects are operating in at least the first phase of their plan, 10 are under construction, and two are past the FID stage.
E-fuels leading the way
The e-fuel leading the way is e-ammonia with a production potential estimated at 0.95 Mtoe by 2029. E-methanol trails behind at 0.55 Mtoe, with the majority of the volumes targeting the maritime sector predominantly. We encountered only one e-methane project considering the maritime sector among other industries currently under construction, with production estimated at 0.22 Mtoe.
One offtake agreement between CMB.Tech and CEEC for the delivery of 158,000 tonnes of e-ammonia.
Few offtake agreements
We recorded very few offtake agreements between e-fuel producers and shipping companies. A notable exception is the agreement between the Belgian shipping company CMB.Tech for the delivery of 158,000 tonnes (70,192 toe) of e-ammonia from China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC). Other examples include the delivery of green ammonia by Envision Chifeng for bunkering tests to Exmar and COSCO.
This absence of offtake agreements could be in part explained by the lack of ammonia-powered ships in the orderbooks and the availability of bio- and bio-E-methanol for methanol-powered ships. In addition, several agreements occur through other stakeholders such as ports, bunker fuel providers, or commodity traders, making it harder to discern who the actual end-user is. Notable examples include fuel producer Envision’s e-ammonia agreement with Japanese company Marubeni for various industrial purposes.