The Yara Birkeland
The world's first electric and self-propelled container ship – Yara Birkeland – has completed its maiden voyage in the Oslo fjord, Norway.
“We are proud to be able to showcase the world's first fully electric and self-propelled container ship,” says Yara CEO Svein Tore Holsether.
“It will cut 1 000 t of carbon dioxide and replace 40 000 trips by diesel-powered trucks a year.
The ship was built by Vard, with financial support from Enova, and will be in commercial operation from 2022.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time,” says Holsether.
“Yara Birkeland will transport mineral fertiliser between Porsgrunn and Brevik and will contribute to significant emission cuts during transport.
“This is an excellent example of green transition in practice, and we hope this ship will be the start of a new type of emission-free container ships.
“There are a lot of places in the world with congested roads that will benefit from a high-tech solution like this.”
The completion of the vessel’s maiden voyage will be followed by a two-year testing period of the technology that makes the ship self-propelled, to finally be certified as an autonomous, all-electric container ship.
The Yara Birkeland is a collaborative project between several actors, with the Kongsberg Group responsible for the delivery of all the newly developed technology on the ship.
The ship will be operated from Massterlys’ monitoring and operations centre in Horten.
Massterly is a joint venture between Kongsberg and Wilhelmsen.
“Norway is a big ocean and maritime nation, and other nations look to Norway for green solutions at sea,” says Kongsberg CEO Geir Håøy.
“Yara Birkeland is the result of the strong knowledge and experience we have in the Norwegian maritime cluster and industry.
“The project demonstrates how we have developed a world-leading innovation that contributes to the green transition and provides great export opportunities for Norwegian technology and industry.”
Enova, a government enterprise responsible for promotion of renewable energy, has allocated up to 133.5-million Norwegian Kroner to build the Yara Birkeland.
“On the way to a low-emission society, transport emissions must come down to almost zero,” notes Enova CEO Nils Kristian Nakstad.
“To achieve that, we need projects that can transform the market – projects that have the potential to pave the way for others and increase the pace of change in their sector. This is exactly what we believe the world’s first autonomous and all-electric container ship will do.”
Green Shipping
In parallel with the construction of Yara Birkeland, Yara has initiated the development of green ammonia as an emission-free fuel for shipping, through the newly started Yara Clean Ammonia.
“Renewable energy was our starting point in 1905,” says Yara Clean Ammonia CEO Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand.
“Now, ammonia can bring us back to our roots.
“Our large shipping network and existing infrastructure means that ammonia has the potential to become the leading fuel for long-distance shipping globally.”
As the world's largest producer of fertilisers, Yara relies on ammonia to make fertiliser, and to help feed an ever-growing population.
At the same time, current ammonia production represents 2% of the world's fossil energy consumption. This corresponds to about 1.2% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions.
"As the world's largest producer of ammonia, Yara has launched an offensive plan of international scale, both to remove current emissions and to establish the production of new, clean ammonia," says Ankarstrand.