The Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) is launching a study that will evaluate the safety, technical and operational requirements for offloading shipboard captured liquified carbon dioxide (LCO2) during port calls.
It said the outcomes of this study will enable the offloading of LCO2 from shipboard capture systems.
“To accelerate the implementation of shipboard carbon capture and to enable the piloting phase of Project REMARCCABLE, GCMD is issuing an Invitation for Proposal to study how best to offload captured CO2 in the form of LCO2 to shortlisted engineering consultants and classification societies,” GCMD said in a media statement on Tuesday.
In early October, GCMD, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative and Stena Bulk launched Project REMARCCABLE (Realising Maritime Carbon Capture to demonstrate the Ability to Lower Emissions) as the world’s first project aimed at demonstrating end-to-end shipboard carbon capture at scale.
Together with Alfa Laval, ABS, Deltamarin and TNO, the seven-member consortium initiated the first stage of a two-year, three-phase project to investigate on-board capture and storage, as well as offloading of captured CO2 to address the challenges and opportunities of deploying carbon capture technologies on ships.
The scope of the new study’s Invitation for Proposal encompasses the offloading process of LCO2 captured onboard tankers, bulkers and container liners at different temperatures and pressures for transfer to different receptacles, including LCO2-receiving vessels and intermediary storage sites, in ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore (cassette/tank) and ship-to-floating storage configurations.
GCMD said that since the goal of the study is to assess possibilities and outline detailed procedures for offloading captured CO2 to shore and ship storage facilities in major ports, existing policy and regulation regimes that may prevent or enable this exercise will need to be taken into consideration.
“GCMD views shipboard carbon capture as an important mid-term technological solution that can help reduce shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions. For shipboard carbon capture technologies to be operationally feasible, the industry needs to develop a value chain for the captured CO2,” GCMD chief executive officer Professor Lynn Loo said when commenting about the new Invitation for Proposal.
“Whilst IMO has no firm position on the use of carbon capture systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the topic is up for discussion at the upcoming MEPC meeting this month.
“Our study will contribute to the emerging body of knowledge around the complexities of shipboard carbon capture.
“And the outcomes of this study will specifically inform sea trials aboard Stena Bulk’s identified MR tanker as part of phase three of Project REMARCCABLE.”
Once the evaluation of submitted proposals is concluded, GCMD expects to make one award in the second quarter of 2023.
The carbon offloading study is expected to complete within nine months. Thereafter, GCMD will inform the industry of its findings, including design considerations that stakeholders, such as port and terminal operators, vessel owners and shipyards, will need to factor in when deploying shipboard carbon capture systems at scale.
It said the findings should also help shape regulatory and operational guidelines that will steer future demonstration and eventual adoption of shipboard carbon capture technologies.
