The facilities, which will serve to replace diesel fuel for their ships, will be located in the ports of Andalusia and Galicia, with an investment of 10,000 million by 2030.
The largest shipping company in the world, Maersk, has chosen Spain to locate one of its major strategic points of global supply for its ships, where it will gradually replace diesel with green methanol, the alternative that currently has the largest forecast of massive CO2 emissions. emissions to reduce emissions from its cargo fleet. The company’s plan is to establish this ‘hub’ in two seaports in Andalusia and Galicia, where its ships will pass to get supplies, although these points have not yet been specified.
The company announced this, whose CEO met the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, this morning at the Palacio de la Moncloa. Maersk’s final decision comes after several months of talks with the Spanish government, to which it has proposed an ambitious investment plan that will directly and indirectly inject some 10,000 million euros by 2030, as well as create some 85,000 jobs. include. the project.
The company’s idea is to produce some two million tons of green methanol in these new strategic Andalusian and Galician points. It would be about 200,000 tons until the year 2025; one million until the year 2027; and reach two million by the year 2030. The group has decided to produce its own green methanol to gradually replace the diesel, given the difficulty of finding partners responsible for the production of this ecological fuel due to the lack of business alternatives .
In this context, the Maersk project will not only serve to supply its ships on the various world routes, but will also be responsible for the production of this green methanol via the four gigawatts (Gw) of renewable energy it will also need. to have. to generate this fuel. These are up to 80 wind and solar farms that it will acquire or develop on the peninsula to complete the project. Green methanol to move ships sustainably is produced by green hydrogen mixed with biogetic CO2, derived from biomass. This green hydrogen is produced with energy from renewable power stations.
Negotiations with the government led to this decision to establish this maritime ‘node’ in Spain, pending the availability of government support to bolster the project. The management, together with the Ministries of Industry, Transport and Ecological Transition, is looking at whether the company will have access to some of the European funds for recovery, and is even considering the possibility of stepping into the project with public capital, although they will make decisions in the coming years. months to be evaluated.
The one in Spain would be the second major green methanol supply point for its fleet of ships, after the one it has already announced it will install in Egypt. The decision to look to Andalusia and Galicia is a response to what Maersk sees as the new world sea routes, highly conditioned by green fuels. Ships will no longer be able to load diesel into almost any port in the world, as they have done so far, but will have to do so in specific areas that will change those world routes.
Maersk has 700 ships worldwide and a 20% market share. In Spain alone, it has 1,700 direct employees, operates in 12 ports and has five maritime terminals, etc. The company has committed to decarbonise its operations by the year 2040, bearing in mind that spending on fuel represent 30% of the normal cost.
For the government, this decision “creates an ecosystem for Spain, the country where green hydrogen production will be most competitive due to the amount of space, sun and wind it has.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
