French liner CMA CGM Group has teamed with waste management specialist SUEZ to establish a long-term industrial partnership on biomethane through waste recovery.
SUEZ will supply CMA CGM up to 100,000 tonnes of biomethane per year by 2030. The two companies will spend EUR100m building biomethane production facilities.
Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Group, said: “The strategic partnership between CMA CGM and SUEZ, one of France’s leading players in the energy transition, marks a major step forward. It will enable us to support the biomethane sector dedicated to the shipping industry, while accelerating the decarbonisation of CMA CGM Group and guaranteeing our carbon neutrality trajectory by 2050. This project also strengthens our energy independence, a key asset for the sovereignty of France and Europe.”
In the last three months, LNG has roared back as the number one alternative fuel for newbuild contracts, according to data from DNV, with methanol slipping, with CMA CGM as one of its early champions.
“LNG is clearly the headline story since the summer, accounting for around 60% of all alternative fuelled new orders in the third quarter mainly thanks to a strong uptake in the container segment,” commented Jason Stefanatos, global decarbonisation director at DNV Maritime.
Peter Keller, chairman of lobby group SEA-LNG, said: “It is gratifying that LNG is finally gaining favour amongst so many shipowners. LNG is the only practical and realistic alternative fuel pathway available today – even for those shipowners that may also be considering other such pathways.”
Keller said the likes of liquefied biomethane and eventually hydrogen-based e-methane could be the next options for owners looking at LNG as a fuel.
Maersk ordered its first LNG dual-fuel vessels this month, a type of propulsion it had previously distanced itself from.
“While green methanol is likely to become the most competitive and scalable pathway to decarbonization in the short term, Maersk also foresees a multifuel future for the industry which includes liquified bio-methane,” the company stated in a release earlier this year.
