Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  March 17, 2021

Ardmore Shipping joins methanol-to-hydrogen joint venture

Ardmore Shipping Corporation will soon be teaming up with hydrogen technology developer Element 1 Corp. (e1) to deliver methanol-to-hydrogen technology to the marine sector.

The shipping company completed a Letter of Intent with e1 and Maritime Partners, which provides financing to the maritime industry, and established that the three parties will each own 33.3% of the joint venture. Under the arrangement, e1 will maintain control over the marketing, development, licensing, and sale of its hydrogen generations systems within the maritime industry, especially shipping, refrigerated containers, offshore energy, renewable energy, passenger and leisure, and certain port infrastructure and related applications.

“We are very pleased to establish a strategic relationship with e1 and Maritime Partners to deliver this unique hydrogen delivery system to the marine sector,” Ardmore CEO Anthony Gurnee said in a statement. “The establishment of e1 Marine and our investment in e1 advance our Energy Transition Plan, which includes a focus on transition technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the shipping industry and utilizing Ardmore’s engineering and marketing capabilities to accelerate their deployment.”

The methanol-to-hydrogen technology is believed to be safer and cheaper than its alternatives for onboard hydrogen delivery and emits zero particulates, zero NOx, zero SOx, and 30-50% less carbon than a diesel engine of the same power rating. The system should be carbon neutral when run on renewable methanol.

The agreement says that Ardmore will purchase a 10% equity stake in e1 in exchange for $4 million cash plus 950,000 ASC common shares, while Maritime Partners will receive 20% of any profits paid to Admore from this equity investment in e1. 

Ardmore’s fleet includes MR product and chemical tankers and provides seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals around the world.