Egypt explores production of green fuels for ships

CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi recently published guidelines to accelerate cooperation with Danish shipping giant Maersk to produce green energy and clean fuels for ships.

The directives came during Sisi’s meeting September 19 with Maersk CEO Soren Skou. The two men discussed a project to produce clean fuel for ships in Egypt with investments worth $15 billion, which will provide more than 100,000 job opportunities for Egyptians.

A published statement by the Egyptian Presidency after the meeting said that “cooperation with Maersk to produce green and clean fuel for ships is part of the state’s efforts to diversify energy sources and move to a clean energy and preserving the environment. This also comes in light of the modern ports that Egypt has now established along the coasts of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the main waterway of the Suez Canal. lifeline of international trade.

The meeting comes as Egypt prepares to host the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Convention (COP27), which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.

Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) who attended the meeting, said in a telephone interview with the local channel TEN on the same day (September 19), “President Sisi affirmed his full support for the project of producing clean fuel for ships with Maersk Group and his help in completing all the questions necessary for the implementation of this project in the coming period.

The schedule for the project has not yet been announced.

Rabie further pointed out that Sisi asked Maersk during the meeting to expand the implementation of the project beyond Ain Sokhna port and establish more than one clean energy plant in such ports. than that of Gargob, Alexandria and Berenice. The company promised to think about it, he added.

Rabie also praised the great cooperation between the SCA and Maerskwhich will be reinforced during the coming period by the training of guides and administrative staff of the SCA.

According to the September 19 presidential statement, Skou applauded the SCA “for its development, its pace with the latest modern technologies, as well as the modernization of the Suez Canal and its infrastructure.”

He added, “This, in turn, would qualify Egypt to become the main and essential hub for supplying and refueling ships with green fuel in the region.”

In that vein, Paul Sullivan, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, told Al-Monitor, “Having cleaner energy options for shipping is very important. CO2 emissions from maritime transport are estimated at approximately 3% of total global emissions. Anyone observing these ships in motion can often see darker smoke as they warm up the engines for the long voyages ahead.

Sullivan added, “All efforts that would successfully reduce emissions and pollution from giant ships are welcome. The distribution of clean fuel to ships in Egyptian ports is an important step for Egypt.

He noted that finalizing the project agreement with Maersk before COP27 is very important for Egypt. “Through this project, Egypt can guarantee great training, education and employment opportunities for Egyptians,” he said.

Sullivan further hailed the project as a good option for Egypt, given the importance of the Suez Canal in the region. “The fuel provided through this project will be the cleanest energy available to ships and will be a good step forward.”

Wael Kaddour, former vice-president of the SCA, told Al-Monitor that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations has begun to implement its resolve to reduce emissions ships at the start of 2020, and ships are therefore forced to use fuel with lower emissions.

In 2018, IMO set an objective reduce carbon emissions from ships by 50% by 2050.

Kaddour said: “The whole world is keeping a watchful eye on climate change and its negative effects on people. Some ships have started using lower sulfur fuels, such as methanol, to reduce environmental pollution. Others are trying to use the so-called clean and green fuels but are hampered by its high cost of over $200 per tonne compared to conventional fuels like diesel and gasoline.

He said the cooperation between the Egyptian government and Maersk is part of Egypt’s efforts to preserve the environment and is part of its organization of the upcoming climate summit.

“Egypt has the ability to use liquefied gas as fuel for ships because it has good gas reserves and liquefaction stations, and all it needs are units to transport the fuel from the stations. liquefaction to ports and to establish stations in ports that supply ships with this type of fuel,” Kaddour said.

He believes that “Egypt will derive many benefits from its cooperation with Maersk for the production of clean fuel. The latter will provide refueling services for all ships in transit, which constitutes an additional advantage for the Suez Canal, by transforming it into a source of supply for ships in the region with liquefied gas or hydrogen. This project will also create many job opportunities for Egyptians.