Azane and Amogy to Develop Ammonia Bunker Vessel
Azane Fuel Solutions, a joint venture between ECONNECT Energy and Amon Maritime, is moving forward with the design of an ammonia bunker vessel to be used for fueling large vessels. They believe the vessel will be a key component in the efforts to decarbonize shipping and as part of their development project, they will also explore incorporating the ammonia-to-power system developed by U.S.-startup Amogy into the vessel.
The company was started to provide the infrastructure to support the use of ammonia in a variety of settings. Their first effort focused on a shore terminal and then they moved to a floating terminal barge. As the next step in the process that the company has been following in developing the infrastructure, they are now working on the designs for an ammonia bunker vessel.
Azane reports it has developed the designs for an ammonia fuel bunker vessel using a complete ammonia cargo handling system. The vessel is part of the company’s envisioned delivery system providing bunkering and loading done ship-to-ship either in a midsea anchorage or alongside when the vessel is berthed. The goal is to make it possible to fuel with the need to go to a dedicated bunkering quay. Azane plans to offer the ammonia bunker vessels to ports such as Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Singapore, or other key ports to support the introduction of ammonia.
The company reports it is now looking for solutions to enable carbon-free propulsion of the ammonia bunker vessel. Azane and Amogy have signed an MoU to explore the technical and commercial feasibility of using Amogy´s ammonia-to-power system on board an Azane-developed bunker vessel concept. The collaboration will also involve exploring the technical and commercial feasibility of using an Azane ammonia fuel feeder solution integrated into the Amogy power system.
Amogy`s ammonia-to-power solution aims to decarbonize the hard-to-abate sectors, including shipping, power generation, and heavy-duty transportation. The company, which has investors including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, SK Innovation, Aramco Ventures, and Mitsubishi, has demonstrated its ammonia power system on a drone and trucks. They are working to retrofit the solution to a tugboat as their first maritime demonstration.
“The reason for providing an ammonia bunker vessel is to help decarbonize the shipping industry. Because of this, we need a zero-emission solution to provide propulsion to our vessels. Amogy has a promising technology that can help us reach our strategic ambition of offering zero-emission bunker solutions for deep sea shipping,” says Håkon Skjerstad, CEO of Azane Fuel Solutions.
Amogy and Azane have agreed to explore the compatibility of their respective technologies and the commercial potential of the combined solutions. The aim is to cooperate on a subsequent pilot project to mature the bunker vessel with the ammonia-to-power solution for commercial applications.