Maersk Supply Service, a subsidiary of Danish shipping giant Maersk, is launching Stillstrom, its offshore vessel-charging venture to support the decarbonization of the maritime industry by eliminating idle emissions.
The new company will deliver offshore electric charging solutions to vessels at ports, hubs, and offshore energy operations. Stillstrom’s power buoy will supply overnight power to one of Ørsted’s Service Operations Vessels (SOV), thereby supporting Ørsted’s target of climate-neutral operations in 2025. Ørsted will be responsible for the grid integration of the charging buoy.
Maersk plans to eliminate idle emissions by installing hundreds of full-scale offshore charging stations around the world for vessels to power them with electricity instead of fossil fuels while waiting outside ports. The Danish shipping company aims to limit carbon emissions and cut air pollution from the around 3,500 commercial vessels that each day consume fuel oil to generate power while laying idle at ports around the world.
Stillstrom’s charging buoy itself is large enough to charge an SOV-sized battery- or hybrid-electric vessel. It will be scaled and adapted to supply power to larger vessels, enabling vessels of all sizes to turn off their engines when lying idle. By substituting fossil-based fuels with green electricity, virtually all emissions and noise pollution are eliminated while the buoy is in use.
The team behind this electric charging venture is now preparing for the installation of three to 10 buoys at up 100 ports by 2028, which will cut carbon emissions by over 5 million tonnes a year while reducing air and noise pollution.
“Our vision at Stillstrom is to enable maritime decarbonization by providing the infrastructure that will allow vessels to charge from clean energy when idle offshore. The mission is to remove 5.5 million tons of CO2 within five years of commercial rollout, additionally eliminating particulate matter, NOx, and SOx,” says Sebastian Klasterer Toft, Venture Programme Manager at Maersk Supply Service.
