Project REMARCCABLE
The consortium from the energy and shipping industries will investigate on-board capture and storage, as well as offloading of captured carbon dioxide (CO2) to address the challenges and opportunities of deploying carbon capture technology on ships.
Project REMARCCABLE (Realising Maritime Carbon Capture to demonstrate the Ability to Lower Emissions) is the world’s first project aimed to demonstrate end-to-end shipboard carbon capture at scale.
Image of Stena Impero courtesy of Stena Bulk
Background
IMO target
In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) declared its ambition to halve the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. To meet this target, the transition to low-/zero-carbon fuels and technologies is necessary.
The case for shipboard carbon capture
Although a lot of effort is going into the development of low and zero-carbon fuels, that development alone may not be fast enough to allow international shipping to meet IMO’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Projections indicate that 85% of the fuel mix for two-stroke engines will remain fossil-fuel based by 2030 and 34% by 2050 . Shipboard carbon capture can help reduce GHG emissions of current vessels, with the possibility of recycling captured CO2 to produce alternative fuels.
Three phases
The first phase involves conceptual design and front-end engineering design study (FEED) of the carbon capture system; this study is ongoing and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.
Following the successful completion of phase one, and once consortium partners provide their backing, a second phase encompassing the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of a prototype shipboard carbon capture system, including onshore commissioning, will be initiated.
Phase three will focus on integrating the carbon capture system with the identified MR tanker and conducting sea trials. Concurrently, GCMD will be issuing an Invitation for Proposal (IFP) to study the challenges and address the needs to operationalise offloading of LCO2. The findings from the offloading study will inform the pilot in phase three of Project REMARCCABLE.
Offloading study
Investigate onboard storage of captured CO2
Develop concepts to safely + accurately offload shipboard captured CO2
Assess the readiness of current infrastructure for LCO2 offloading
Generate CAPEX + OPEX models for LCO2 offloading infrastructure, buildout + operation costs
Review + identify gaps in custody transfer, competency standards + regulatory approval
Validate + finalise findings with industry stakeholders