Höegh Autoliners to Scale Up Ammonia Use
Andreas Enger, CEO of Höegh Autoliners, is sending ammonia demand signals to new fuel producers but doing it in a way that will enable the company to scale use of the fuel gradually.
Enger explained how to Øyvind Sekkesæter in a DNV Maritime Impact podcast released late last week.
Höegh Autoliners has a fleet of 37 vessels and more vessels under construction including a series of 12 Aurora class multi-fuel vessels anticipated to run on LNG and ammonia. The vessels have an ammonia-capable LNG fuel tank, facilitating on-going dual-fuel operation.
“We subscribe to and believe that there is a multi-fuel future, and there are different solutions for different players, including focusing on energy efficiency and waiting for things to mature,” he says.
But his company is ready to go for zero carbon fuels faster than most due to the newbuilding program, customers that are actively engaging in discussions on how to decarbonize and a trade pattern that has light infrastructure needs.
“We are strong believers that for those that are able to use ammonia in their trade networks, it is the most scalable and will, long term, have the lowest production cost of any available zero carbon, near zero carbon fuels,” he said. “It also has the huge benefit of actually being zero carbon, not carbon neutral.”
Enger says ammonia is the only fuel that has very clear scaling patterns, both green through renewable electricity and blue through natural gas and carbon capture.
“It's not right for everybody, but in our trading pattern and with our customers, we can start sending the demand signals and start using ammonia,” he said. Initially, the company will supply just some of its customers with ammonia, as it is already doing with net zero biofuels. With support from
DNV it has established auditable mechanisms for ensuring the fairness of the premium paid for these fuels.
Enger expects the use of ammonia to gradually increase over the lifetime of the new vessels. “We are not planning to make a big bang in 2027, but we're planning to be able to start offering zero carbon solutions for high value cargo and carbon conscious customers.”
The current proposals from the IMO will start to make use of at least blue ammonia quite realistic from 2031, he says.
Other shipowners are also taking up ammonia. DNV reports that two ammonia-fueled gas carriers were ordered in July, and for the first time, one ammonia bunker vessel was added to the orderbook.
