Energy System News

Energy prices surged on Thursday after Iran struck the world’s largest LNG complex, causing damage that Qatar said could take five years to repair, as the energy sector's worst fears about the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran came true.QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters the state-owned gas company may have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts to Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China after the attack meant a loss of around 17% of Qatar's liquefied…

When Saudi Aramco told its oil buyers in a letter this week that it had no clear idea which port it would use for April exports, it laid bare a new reality: Iran, not the United States, holds the key to reopening the global energy market.The letter, sent to Saudi oil buyers around the world, said they might receive oil from the Red Sea, but they might still get it from the Gulf."I might as well call Iran to find out when this war ends so I can get my oil," one regular Saudi oil…

The economic risks of the world’s heavy dependence on oil and gas have been laid bare twice in four years - first with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and now with the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran - undermining U.S. President Donald Trump’s flagship push to double down on fossil fuels.The dramatic supply disruptions and price spikes unleashed by the latest Middle East conflict are likely to harden the resolve of many governments to accelerate the drive for greater energy self‑sufficiency…

Japanese shipping major NYK Line has completed the basic design of a new long-distance subsea cable-laying vessel intended to support the development of Japan’s future high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission network, marking a key milestone in a national effort to strengthen offshore renewable energy infrastructure.The vessel’s design recently received General Design Approval (GDA) from classification society ClassNK, confirming that the concept meets relevant international…

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Ukraineon Wednesday of planning to disrupt the Hungarian energy system, and dispatched troops to safeguard infrastructure, escalating a dispute that has undermined Europe's pro-Ukraine consensus.Hungary and Slovakia, whose leaders are outliers in the EU for maintaining relations with Moscow, blame Kyiv for an outage on the Druzhba oil pipelinethat supplies their refineries with Russian crude pumped through Ukraine.Kyiv says the pipeline was damaged by a Russian drone attack in January and it is fixing it as fast as it can.Orban…

Meyer Turku has unveiled a net-zero cruise ship concept design named AVATAR.The project achieved its set emissions reduction target: the vessel’s lifecycle carbon footprint was successfully reduced by more than 90 percent compared to the baseline defined by the IMO.Developing a net zero vessel concept was one of the key objectives of NEcOLEAP, Meyer Turku’s four‑year research and development program co‑funded by Business Finland. The outcome has also been critically reviewed by a third party.“AVATAR has provided a solid foundation for our development work.

With a growing focus on mitigating climate change and progressing toward the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2050 net-zero target, the marine sector is under intense pressure to decarbonize. Today, maritime transport emits nearly one billion tons of CO2 annually, representing roughly 2-3% of all energy-related carbon emissions worldwide .Substantial progress has been made over the past decade in reducing emissions from small commercial and coastal vessels via all-electric and diesel-electric propulsion (DEP) systems.

The European Union has awarded funding to support the development of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in the Øresund region, backing a cross-border project aimed at accelerating renewable energy use and enabling the production of sustainable fuels.The three-year project is supported by financing from the Interreg Øresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak program and will establish a Danish-Swedish collaboration platform focused on integrating CCUS into the regional energy system.The…

A world-first demonstration combining tidal power, battery storage, and hydrogen production has been completed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.The demonstration successfully integrated three technologies – Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine, vanadium flow batteries supplied by Invinity Energy Systems, and an ITM Power 670 kW electrolyser, at EMEC’s onshore site on the island of Eday.Multiple energy flow scenarios were trialed. During high generation periods…

After delivering its first full-scale seagoing project last week, Wattlab has been contracted to outfit the hatches of the BRF Froan with its onboard solar energy system.Owned by Norwegian shipping company Berge Rederi, the vessel will be the world’s largest battery-powered bulk carrier. BRF Froan is expected to be delivered in Q2 2026 and will transport marble from Brønnøy and Visnes to a production plant in Elnesvågen.The vessel is currently under construction and will sail to Norway next summer.

Dutch maritime solar company Wattlab has delivered a solar energy system for globally operating shipping, trading, and maritime services company Vertom.The recently delivered Vertom Tula is a 7,280dwt diesel-electric multipurpose cargo vessel. The solar system represents a major technical milestone and a step forward for sustainable shipping. Wattlab has delivered and installed 44 Solar Flatracks that will provide power to onboard systems, reducing 20% of the hotel load. Vertom operates a fleet of over 100 vessels…

French engineering specialist GTT has teamed up with Bloom Energy and Ponant Explorations Group to develop an integrated energy system combining solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) powered by LNG with marine carbon capture, aiming to significantly cut onboard emissions for future cruise operations.The system is slated to be installed on Ponant’s Swap2Zero cruise vessel by 2030. The vessel will be propelled by wind-assisted technology and fuel cells, and the new system is designed to cover the ship’s hotel load - including lighting…

Belgian marine contractor Jan De Nul has ordered a rock installation vessel, specifically built to strengthen the protection of offshore energy and subsea data infrastructure.The vessel, named George W. Goethals, will be the company’s largest rock installation ship to date, with a carrying capacity of 37,000 tonnes. It will be equipped with ultra-low emission technology and engines capable of running on biofuel and green methanol.According to Jan De Nul, using its flexible vertical fall pipe and an inclined fall pipe system…

Mia Elg, R&D Manager at Deltamarin, says there’s not many of the company’s new designs, no matter what the vessel type is, that don’t include batteries.Installing smaller battery capacity to a diesel engine driven vessel with electrical power train can enable spinning reserve. Here, an optimal number of engines can be kept online, and the batteries can work as a black out preventer. This can save, depending on the type of the ship and operation, anything between a few percent…

Sinobunker, one of COSCO Shipping’s subsidiaries, has completed the world’s first green ammonia bunkering operation at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry’s Dalian terminal.The ammonia was sourced from the world’s largest green hydrogen and ammonia plant established by Envision in Chifeng and powered entirely by the world’s largest independent renewable energy system.The plant integrates wind, solar and energy storage with proprietary hydrogen and ammonia production technologies. It is powered by a proprietary AI-integrated off-grid renewable system…

Econowind has received a repeat order from Terntank for the installation of eight VentoFoil units on two additional methanol-ready hybrid tankers. Following the initial order in May 2023 for three newbuilds, this brings the total to five vessels and 20 VentoFoils, with each ship fitted with four 16-meter wind wings.The first vessel, Tern Vik, was delivered in April 2025 by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou). The entire series is equipped with Kongsberg’s energy and propulsion management system. Under the K-Sail concept, wind can take the lead when conditions are favorable.

Dutch maritime solar innovator Wattlab has delivered a solar energy system for HGK Shipping’s inland shipping cargo vessel Blue Marlin. The vessel’s 192 solar panels will provide power to both the onboard and propulsion systems, making the Blue Marlin the first inland shipping vessel in the world capable of hybrid sailing with solar power. HGK Shipping is a European inland waterway shipping company operating a fleet of 350 vessels. With annual freight figures in the region of 43 million tons, HGK Shipping is considered to be a leading player in European dry bulk, gas and chemical transport.

RenewableUK and the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) have released a new report showing that the number of people working in the offshore wind industry has risen from just over 32,000 two years ago to nearly 40,000 today – an increase of 24%.The Wind Industry Skills Intelligence Report 2025 has also revealed that the number of people working in onshore wind in the U.K. now stands at just over 15,000. This brings the UK’s total current wind industry workforce to over 55,000.The report projects future job numbers by examining three potential deployment scenarios for offshore wind in 2030…

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, part of technology group Wärtsilä, has been contracted to supply a regasification module for Höegh Evi, which will be installed onboard the LNG carrier Hoegh Gandria to convert the vessel to a high-capacity floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).When converted, the Hoegh Gandria will be deployed in the port of Sumed, Egypt.It will supply the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company with up to 1,000 mmscf/day of peak LNG regasification capacity, making…

Incat Hull 096 – the world’s largest battery-electric ship – has been officially launched in Tasmania, Australia.Built for South American ferry operator Buquebus, the 130-meter ferry will enter enters service between Buenos Aires and Uruguay, operating entirely on battery-electric power, carrying up to 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles across the River Plate.The ship is the ninth Incat-built vessel for Buquebus.The ship is equipped with over 250 tonnes of batteries and an Energy Storage System (ESS) boasting more than 40 megawatt-hours of installed capacity.

Wattlab introduced its SolarDeck - a modular and scalable system of deck-mounted solar panels that is designed to yield "significant reductions" in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions - for the seagoing shipping industry, with an expected ROI of 3-5 years.Established in 2017, Wattlab has spent its first years of operations focusing on the inland shipping sector with its Solar Flatrack, a modular solar energy system consisting of movable and stackable integrated solar panels and inverters.

Wärtsilä Gas Solutions and Höegh Evi have successfully completed development of the world’s first floating ammonia-to-hydrogen cracker. This technology enables floating import terminals to produce hydrogen at industrial-scale volumes from transported ammonia, marking a step in the energy transition. The project was announced in April 2023 and is part of Norway’s green platform program.The industrial-scale ammonia cracker has a modular design that allows integration into both hybrid…

Swiss marine power company WinGD has secured a contract to integrate hybrid power and energy systems on four 113,600 DWT, wind-assisted tankers under construction for Union Maritime (UML).The agreement marks the first time that WinGD’s X-EL Integrated Energy solution will be deployed with wind-assisted propulsion systems, with the aim of ensuring optimal use of power generated by the main engine and the sails onboard.The vessels will be built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry, with WinGD configuring the hybrid power system…