Finnish maritime industries and Baltic Sea area green transition

Elina Andersson,
Secretary General,
Finnish Marine Industries,
Finland

Green transition is a must for all industries. Finnish marine industry is targeting to be a forerunner in the maritime sector transition. There are large opportunities, a lot has been done already but also many steps to be taken, so that Baltic Sea area could be a leading hub for green maritime technology in the future. Time to act is now.

Finland has a long history and thorough understanding of delivering smart and environmentally friendly high-tech maritime solutions. Finnish marine industry consists of marine equipment manufacturers, turnkey suppliers, design companies, system suppliers, software providers and shipbuilding, ship repair and offshore yards. Our internationally known maritime network’s expertise ranges from icebreakers and ice going vessels to cruise ships, ferries, specialized vessels, and offshore renewable energy solutions as well as port technology. Finland also has one of the most diverse marine system supplier and subcontractor networks in the world.

Baltic Sea region countries have remarkable opportunities to make Baltic Sea a green hub of maritime transport and green energy. We have the know-how from our top of the range maritime and energy industries, we can use digital solutions to design vessels and systems and optimize energy consumption or routes, for instance. With the know-how we could build a hub for green maritime fuels produced with offshore wind energy, store it near by and use it for clean maritime transport, clean steel, or green heavy transport. We have short routes that would be optimal for instance testing new fuels like hydrogen, since hydrogen is hard to store without loss.

Actions needed for maritime green transition in the Baltic Sea area

The first prerequisite is that there is enough RDI activities in place to develop new technologies. RDI funding is essential to promote cooperation and reduce the risk of developing new technologies with ambitious targets. Companies are now investing in developing for instance technologies that make it possible to use hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol as a fuel. Electrification and hybrid solutions are suitable for some routes. Electricity used directly is the most efficient way, but for long routes it is not an option, at least not yet. Energy saving is the key and all possible technologies to reduce energy consumption will be needed to establish zero emission waterborne transport. Wind propulsion is one technology that is already available.

Regulation is needed to promote development and investments in green technology. EU’s FuelEU Maritime and Emission Trading System (EU ETS) for shipping will, when working as planned, accelerate investments to new technology and fuels. IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator CII enters into force in 2023. Discussions for market base measures will also continue. Global regulation is crucially needed.

In Baltic sea area ice is one special issue that must be handled. New regulation might guide shipowners to order less ice-going vessels. Need for icebreaking would then rise. This is one reason why Baltic Sea countries should prepare and go rapidly forward with ordering new icebreakers to replace those that are in the end of their lifecycle.

Pilot projects are needed test new solutions, to make them better and proof that the technology works. Without pilots and references it is hard to sell new solutions. Finnish companies have been piloting many green technologies with Finnish shipowners and also with foreign shipping companies. Many pilots have also been made in public procurement projects. For instance, the famous Azipod propulsion was invented in public and private cooperation. If Finland wants to accelerate the transition, there is a need for more pilots. For instance, road ferries have been and could be an optimal test bed for new solutions. Baltic sea region with tight regulation and harsh conditions is also a good test area itself.

Green energy is key in production of P2X fuels. There are plans to establish more wind power to the Baltic Sea. With more wind power the area would have more clean energy to produce for instance green hydrogen, that should be produced near the use. In the future there could be even sea hubs for production and bunkering of green hydrogen.

Infrastructure is of course essential for new fuels like hydrogen, methanol, or ammonia, including production, transportation, storage and bunkering infra. Building the infra is a large commitment so it ideally should be usable for multiple fuel types. LNG infra is a good start that could help the transfer to other new fuels. In any case, large investments will be needed at the Baltic Sea region.

Investments can happen when technological solutions are in place. Also, there must be reliable plans for the infra and new fuels available. Chicken-and-egg-problem is the main factor that is causing delay; there should be technologies and infra ready so that there would be major investments. And major investment in sight accelerates RDI and infra construction. It is important to have enough predictability for the players. Countries should share the risk with the first ones that use new technologies.

Collaboration for the future

Collaboration of Baltic Sea region countries is essential since no country can solve for instance infrastructure issues alone. The countries should have common understanding how the future looks like. Business Finland and for instance the funding instrument for Leading companies as well as EU’s Horizon Europe funding programme will hopefully be in key roles accelerating the RDI activities.

European Waterborne stakeholders have established Zero Emission Waterborne Transport partnership targeting to provide and demonstrate zero-emission solutions for all main ship types and services before 2030, which will enable zero-emission waterborne transport before 2050. Finnish marine industry is investing a lot of effort to develop green technologies; propulsions systems and engines for new fuels, energy efficiency of ship concepts and the systems, wind propulsion and other technologies to save energy or recently also to capture carbon. Lately for instance engine manufacturer Wärtsilä has announced “the world’s first long term, full-scale, testing of ammonia as a fuel in a marine four-stroke combustion engine” and cooperation to build ammonia-fueled ammonia tanker.

Collaboration of maritime industry, shipowners and ports is of course important for development and testing of new technologies. Due to the country’s isolated geographic location, Finnish maritime cluster has always been important for the security of supply of Finland. If we use our maritime know how together with our know how of green energy and new fuels, we could make our security of supply even better at Baltic Sea area.

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