Equinor has fired the starter gun on its intention to charter offshore support vessels (OSVs) with green fuel technologies
The Norwegian energy group aims to cut its net carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and sees using zero-emissions OSVs as a way of achieving this goal.
At Riviera Maritime Media’s annual Maritime Hybrid, Electric & Hydrogen Fuel Cells Conference in Bergen, Norway, Equinor manager for maritime operations Morten Sundt said the group is looking for vessel owners to provide platform supply vessels (PSVs) with zero-emissions propulsion.
“We have looked at retrofit solutions for future fuels and concluded tenders with six contracts so far,” said Mr Sundt.
“In the next phase, we are looking at newbuilds with zero emissions at some stage for the fleet of PSVs. It will take time, but we will need newbuilds eventually with new technology for safe, sustainable and efficient operations.”
Norwegian PSV owners are benefitting from Equinor’s long-term charter of green vessels running on LNG and batteries. Mr Sundt expects the next generation of PSVs to run on ammonia, some with batteries and fuel cells on board.
“We are looking at what is beyond the known technologies, looking at concepts, asking whether we can reach our installations purely on batteries.”
He said Equinor wants to be a leading industry player, providing long-term charters to vessel owners willing to invest in green technologies. This goes for PSVs operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and could be extended into the UK, and for vessels supporting offshore windfarms.
“Where there are commercial risks, we need to provide long contracts,” said Mr Sundt.
“For PSVs with batteries, we offer three years, plus three year options. If owners come with ammonia-fuelled PSVs, we can extend the contract with many more years.”
Equinor will look at cutting emissions from other types of vessels it charters.
“PSVs are a good starting point as they have known sailing routes and are easy to replace and retrofit, and they are the largest part of the chartered fleet,” said Mr Sundt.
“Then we need to look at anchor handlers and subsea support vessels. We also need to look at different formats and ways of working.
Equinor has around 45 vessels on long-term charter and may have 100 vessels in total operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It has more than 10,000 calls at its offshore installations in the North, Norwegian and Barents seas.
