The POSEIDON project aims to facilitate the use of e-methanol as e-fuel in shipping by demonstrating innovative solutions along the value chain steps: 1. two complementary CO2 valorisation routes – biogenic CO2 from a biogas plant and industrial plant from a lime plant will be investigated, 2. A new hybrid TRL7 power-to-e-methanol technology will be built and demonstrated within a test platform allowing to re-create real case studies conditions, 3. The produced e-fuel will be tested in 2- and 4-stroke engines at testing facilities and in a pilot boat in open sea to confirm its applicability. The project will also pave the way for the future implementation of e-methanol value chains in the port areas of Valencia and Thessaloniki. Communities of practice gathering project partners and external local stakeholders interested in the e-fuel transition will be created. These communities will strengthen collaboration, raise awareness of the potentials and benefits of renewable e-fuels, help members share their vision and discuss requirements and challenges. This will be supported by detailed case study assessment: extensive tests will be performed in a Power-to-X test platform and simulations enabling to evaluate environmental, economic and social mid-term to long-term impacts will be carried out. Market studies and business modelling activities will be done to have a clear view of the deployment potential at EU level. To foster market uptake, an EU deployment roadmap and a replication tool allowing external stakeholders to conduct their own pre-feasibility assessment will be developed. A public project guidebook outlining the main key exploitable results and policy recommendations will be published. To achieve all these results, the project will build upon the wide expertise of its 19 partners. The consortium consists of a well-balanced team of industrial partners (8), research partners (5), business support organisations (2), ports (2), an association and a public agency.

The trend in navigational accidents no longer appears to decrease. In a Formal Safety Assessment (IMO NAV59-6, Annex 1) 5.544 navigational and 7.275 other accidents resulted in the loss of 6.264 lives (2001-2010). The coincide of EU policies on safer and more efficient waterborne operations and in particular the e-maritime initiative with IMO’s strategy for e-navigation opens a unique window of opportunity to influence the maritime sector and make substantial impact. Funding of EfficienSea 2 will enable the consortium to exploit this window of opportunity, supporting EU policies and marine traffic management through services to: 1. Improve navigational safety and efficiency 2. Improve Arctic navigation and emergency response 3. Decrease administrative burdens 4. Improve environmental monitoring & enforcement Lasting impact will be ensured by five enabling actions: 1. Development of the Maritime Cloud – a communication framework for both e-maritime and e-navigation - enabling efficient sharing of information between all maritime stakeholders 2. Maturing emerging communication technologies, improving ships connectivity 3. Proactive facilitation of standardisation to maximize adoption and impact 4. Showcasing solutions in two very different geographic areas. Web-based initial implementation of the services will be done in the Arctic and the Baltic 5. Ensure an ambitious upgrade of international maritime safety regimes through a strong participation in regulatory bodies including EU and IMO EfficienSea 2 has gathered a unique level of competence in a consortium of 32 partners from 10 countries representing authorities, academia, international organisations as well as equipment manufacturers combining all the right capacities for effectively achieving these ambitious objectives.

FASTWATER focuses on methanol, a clean fuel, available in large quantities in most ports today and offering a pathway to a climate-neutral synthetic fuel produced from renewables. Methanol is suited for internal combustion engines, gas turbines as well as fuel cells. As a liquid fuel, it is easily stored on board, which is advantageous to ship design, and enables relatively simple retrofitting. Consequently, the EU’s Joint Research Centre’s study on alternative fuels for shipping states that methanol is one of the most promising options to decarbonise the shipping sector. FASTWATER aims to start a fast transitionary path to move waterborne transport away from fossil fuels, and reduce its pollutant emissions to zero impact, through the use of methanol fuel. The FASTWATER consortium has a strong track record with methanol projects (particularly for waterborne transport) and includes shipyards, a ship owner, engine manufacturers, an equipment supplier, a classification society, a methanol producer, a major port and research institutes. Specifically, FASTWATER will develop and demonstrate an evolutionary pathway for methanol technology, including retrofit solutions as well as next generation systems. Universal, scalable retrofit kits, medium speed and high speed methanol engines will be developed, demonstrated and commercialized. The demos include a harbour tug, a pilot boat and a coast guard vessel. A complete design for a methanol-powered river cruiser is also included. The demos will show the complete chain from renewable methanol production to ship bunkering, work with regulatory agencies to simplify rules and regulations for methanol as a fuel, and develop and use a training programme for crew. Finally, business plans will be elaborated including the life cycle performance analysis of investment cost, fuel cost, CO2 savings and pollutant reductions, to commercialize the developed solutions.