Page 75 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023
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In his interview with Naftika Chronika, Mr Håkan Agnevall shares his thoughts on ship-
ping’s currently available decarbonisation solutions and outlines Wärtsilä’s plan for
the Greek market.
THE WORLD
WILL GET
MORE COMPLEX
Håkan Agnevall, Ö Which of the available decarbonisa- vide a sustainable customer offering. That is why
President and CEO of tion technologies and solutions do we see companies like Nike or IKEA strategically
Wärtsilä Corporation,
in discussion you believe have more potential and investing in green transport. But there is another
will be preferred by owners who wish kind of customer growth in green transport: the
with to invest in upgrading their existing numerous industrial companies similar to Wärt-
Giannis Theodoropoulos fleets in order to minimise their envi- silä that have committed to decarbonisation tar-
ronmental footprint? Besides LNG gets or set science-based targets. And when you
and methanol, what other alternative make such a commitment, you need to examine
fuels does Wärtsilä believe might be the whole value chain (supply chain, transport,
efficient and competitive enough to etc.) so these two forces come together.
be considered viable options for the We should recognise that shipping’s energy tran-
shipping sector? sition will take time, even decades. We have a
As you know, Wärtsilä is active in both the marine saying in Wärtsilä ‘’green is not black or white’’.
and the energy business. When we look at the There are no single simple solutions. Looking
marine side, there are two sets of driving forces. forward, we believe there will be many different
One set is the regulatory framework, includ- marine fuels. Fossil fuels will still be there, and
ing IMO regulations such as the CII. Owner gas consumption will grow. There was a stigmati-
and operator interest in decarbonisation has sation of gas in Europe after the Russian invasion
increased significantly in the last two years. of Ukraine, but if you take a longer-term per-
When the sulphur cap was implemented a few spective, gas needs to be there, and prices will
years ago, owners and operators followed a ‘’wait come down. Then there is also the alternative
and see’’ approach regarding scrubber instal- of carbon-neutral solutions such as biofuels. As
lation, etc. In contrast, today, we see a more far as methanol is concerned, the technology is
proactive approach and shipping stakeholders mature enough, and we see an ever-increasing
thinking strategically. The IMO regulations are number of methanol-ready vessel orders. What
moving slowly, but they are coming. we are developing now is zero-carbon fuels.
At the same time, there is a small but growing These are ammonia and hydrogen. This year we
market in green transport. Its driving force, which will present a technical concept for ammonia
may become even stronger in the coming years, and, later on, in 2025, for hydrogen. These are
is consumer goods companies that want to pro- some of the ‘’fuel avenues’’ going forward, but
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