Netherlands scrubber pioneer Value Group has welcomed oil major Shell on board as an investor.
The company, which produces exhaust cleaners that can also capture CO2, said money from Shell Ventures will accelerate shipping decarbonisation.
The investment was left unspecified, but the idea is to develop the Dutch group’s carbon capture utilisation and storage strategy.
The Value Maritime division claims to have the first commercially viable hybrid CO2 capture and exhaust gas cleaning system, called Filtree.
Shell Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Shell, supports companies in their early, scale and growth phases.
Since 2017, Value Maritime has won multiple contracts from vessel operators.
The system allows ships to store the CO2 they collect onboard in dedicated fixed tanks or non-fixed battery containers.
They can then be sustainably offloaded in port for re-use or storage elsewhere.
A sister company called Value Carbon was launched earlier this year to build on this innovation.
“With Shell Ventures’ support, Value Group aims to accelerate its strategy throughout the maritime value chain, including the expansion of CO2 offtake and monetisation of opportunities globally,” Value Group said.
Strong partnerships needed
“Both parties believe strong partnerships between companies, governments, customers and industries are needed to unlock the potential of carbon capture utilisation and storage to reduce emissions in the maritime industry,” it said.
Value Group co-founder and director Maarten Lodewijks said: “The participation of Shell Ventures serves as confirmation that we are on the right path and is a huge compliment for our team.”
Shell Ventures chief investment officer Robert Linck explained shipping is a notoriously hard-to-abate sector where volumes have doubled over the last couple of decades and the upward trend is expected to continue.
“Value Group’s promising solution is one of the first on the market that provides the maritime industry with a viable solution for carbon capture today,” he said.
In June, Ireland-based Ardmore Shipping said it would retrofit more MR tankers with Value Group’s carbon capture-ready scrubber.
Ardmore had already committed to installing six kits on its ships.
