A.P. Moller – Maersk is investing in a Danish startup that says its fuel cell technology can support the decarbonization of the maritime industry, according to the tech firm, Blue World Technologies.
Applied to maritime freight operations, that technology would be significant because the shipping industry accounts for around 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is considered a hard-to-abate sector, the firm said.
Maersk’s venture capital arm, Maersk Growth, participated in the $12 million “pre-C-round” alongside The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Cycle Group, and other new and existing shareholders.
Blue World says its high-temperature PEM fuel cell enables highly efficient conversion of methanol to electricity. It also provides the potential for internal waste heat utilization to optimize the methanol-reforming process and for additional energy recovery that can be used onboard, improving the total system efficiency.
The firm has built a fuel cell factory in Aalborg, Denmark, ensuring in-house production of all the core fuel cell components alongside system development and manufacturing.
In addition to its financial investment in the firm, Maersk has ordered one of Blue World’s methanol fuel cells for a pilot program generating auxiliary power on one of its methanol-powered container ships.
"At Maersk we see methanol fuel cells as an interesting and promising technology. With well above 100 methanol enabled vessels on order across the industry, the demand for green fuel is rising,” Ole Graa Jakobsen, Vice President, Fleet Technology at A.P. Moller – Maersk, said in a release. “The prospect of fuel cell technology to significantly improve energy efficiency for these expensive green fuels could become an important component in closing the price gap to conventional bunker fuel and enable the green transition of shipping."
