There’s a new acronym to get used to when embarking on the maritime decarbonization journey. 

It’s OCCS – which stands for “onboard carbon capture and storage” – and that’s comprehensively covered by DNV in its latest guidelines for the safe installation of the system on board ships.

The new OCCS guidelines have been produced amid growing pressure on the shipping industry to develop effective technologies to reduce emissions as part of the ongoing maritime energy transition.

Of course, many different methods for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be necessary – including alternative cleaner fuels and more effective energy saving measures – to achieve international, regional, and national emissions targets. 

But post-combustion OCCS on board trading ships is expected to be among these very necessary future solutions, especially on vessels where the use of alternative fuels is not feasible.

DNV’s new guidelines are designed to be used by stakeholders across the value chain, including ship designers, builders, OCCS system manufacturers, and ship owners, and apply to both newbuilds and retrofits. 

In the process, DNV says it is vital to cover all aspects for safe installation, including exhaust pre-treatment, absorption with the use of chemicals/amines, after-treatment systems, liquefaction processes, CO2 storage, and transfer systems.

“A focus on safety is crucial for new technology and must be prioritised as the industry looks to adopt sustainable fuels and CCS installations,” said Chara Georgopoulou, Head of Maritime R&D and Advisory Greece, Senior Research Engineer II, Onboard CCS Manager.

CCS technology is tried and tested in land-based industry, but its application on board ships is relatively unproven. 

What the DNV guidelines provide is a framework for installation, offering support for stakeholders in the industry, while contributing to reducing emissions and driving the maritime industry towards a more sustainable future.

There are currently no statutory regulations addressing the possible safety implications of using OCCS systems on board ships. The guidelines also cover alternative solutions for carbon capture, including physical absorption and cryogenic methods.

DNV ready to test OCCS in Asia

It was recently announced that DNV has entered a Joint Development Project (JDP) with the Singapore-based ship owner Asiatic Lloyd Maritime LLP (ALM) to explore the feasibility of OCCS with ALM’s container and Kamsarmax bulk carrier. 

The plan is for DNV to cooperate with ALM on a techno-economic study of OCCS on vessels using DNV’s FuelPath to assess the economic potential of the different fuel and technology strategies. The model will reflect a range of fuel and CO2 price scenarios and future decarbonization requirements, aligned with ALM’s own net zero ambitions.

Ever ready to collaborate, Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, Regional Manager Southeast Asia, Pacific & India, Maritime at DNV said she was delighted that DNV is partnering with Asiatic Lloyd Maritime to explore cost-effective fuel strategies that would support their net zero ambitions.

“It’s becoming increasingly important for shipowners to look ahead and embark on a decarbonization strategy that allows for regulatory compliance and optimized operations. 

“To this effect, backed by DNV’s experienced global network and team of experts in the Maritime Decarbonization & Autonomy Regional Centre of Excellence in Singapore, we are in a prime position to help the industry navigate the maritime energy transition in a safe and efficient manner,” she said. 

This is a good way to see how OCCS will work in different vessels and conditions, and notably in Asia. 

OCCS case study model

DNV’s latest Maritime Forecast to 2050 report detailed the techno-economic evaluation involving  the company’s tried and tested FuelPath model for a large, modern deep-sea ship, a 15,000 TEU container vessel, sailing between the Far East and Western Europe. 

Assumptions for this study  are that the ship runs on heavy fuel oil (HFO), has a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture unit and storage tanks, and is fitted with a scrubber for sulphur oxides (SOX) and exhaust pre-treatment. 

The study models annual costs under two on-board CO2 capture and storage (CCS) scenarios, Low and High cost, to compensate for economic uncertainties such as CAPEX and OPEX. It focuses on two parameters that it assesses as impacting most on the economics of on-board CO2 capture. 

One is the ‘fuel penalty’, the extra energy used for operating the capture unit. The other is the ‘CO2 deposit cost’, the sum of the CO2 transport and storage costs.

So, what is required for an economic case for on board CCS?

For the annual cost range, the Low CSS (cost) scenario is seen to perform well against the other fuel strategies. The Forecast attributes this partly to the HFO price in the scenarios, and partly to fuel penalty and CO2 deposit costs compared with the cost of buying a larger share of carbon-neutral fuels.  

The High CCS (cost) scenario performs around the middle of the studied fuel strategies. For net present value, the High CCS (cost) case is close to the mean for the fuel strategies by mid-century while the Low CCS (cost) case outperforms three-quarters of them.

“Our research suggests there can be an economic case for on-board CCS if the capture technologies have low fuel penalties and if a CCS industry can offer the low CO2 storage costs in our model,” says Eirik Ovrum, Maritime Principal Consultant at DNV and lead author of the Forecast.

While no detailed studies have been undertaken so far in Asia, there is growing interest in putting OCCS to the test.

Growing regional interest in CCUS

Concerns over the potentially catastrophic impact of a rapidly warming planet have spurred efforts by countries in Asia to set targets for achieving zero net carbon emissions by around the middle of this century. 

CCS and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are seen as ways to reduce the negative effects of fossil fuel use.

Last year, DNV and Petronas signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to address the technical, regulatory, and business challenges of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) deployment. 

The collaboration entailed initiatives and activities related to CCUS deployment by leveraging each organisation’s technical skills, resources, and research capabilities. CCUS enables the capture of CO2 emissions from industrial activities and, in South East Asia, could play a crucial role in the region’s transition to net zero.

In June this year, DNV awarded Petronas, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) with Approvals in Principle (AiPs) for their jointly developed liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carriers and LCO2 floating storage and offloading unit (FSO). This was awarded soon after the announcement made by Petronas, Pertamina, and PTTEP, South East Asia’s three biggest national oil companies, that they are intensifying efforts to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) capabilities in an attempt to both decarbonize and seize opportunities in the nascent industry. 

Taking DNV’s new OCCS Guidelines to heart and testing them in different vessels, situations and locations is a necessary step as the industry explores various means to decarbonize and achieve emission reductions. 

In Asia and everywhere, DNV believes the maritime industry has to go beyond setting targets to achieve net zero to actually putting in place effective technologies – as spelt out in the OCCS guidelines – to reduce emissions as part of the ongoing decarbonization process and towards an effective energy transition. 

Photo credit: DNV
Published: 3 November, 2023