On Monday, the European Commission announced a new investment package under the Innovation Fund, the main instrument financed by the revenues of the trading system EU ETS emission allowances that will support Innovative technologies for the decarbonisation of industry European Union. A total of 77 projects were selected that will benefit from a total of 3.4 billion euros. Among the selected projects, a particularly initiatives for the maritime sector, called upon to achieve increasingly stringent reduction targets and to rethink operating models, fuels and infrastructure. The list also includes projects for the port that the EU intends to turn into one of the main platforms of the continental energy transition, promoting the development of new fuels, the electrification of ships and the creation of infrastructures dedicated to the capture and management of carbon dioxide.

Among the most innovative initiatives are, among those listed based in Italy, the Green Ammonia Fueled Fleet project (GAFF), coordinated by Norway's Færder Tankers, which aims to create the first European fleet of gas carriers equipped with engines trifuels capable of using ammonia, liquefied petroleum gas and marine diesel fuel. The ships will be used in the transport of ammonia green areas and ship-to-ship bunkering on routes between India, the Gulf of Mexico and Northern Europe. The project is therefore not limited to the transport of green ammonia, but introduces an integrated system of ship-to-ship bunkering on the main intercontinental routes. The aim is to promote the spread of ammonia as a alternative fuel for maritime transport, considered one of the of the most promising candidates for low-speed navigation emissions. The system is expected to handle up to one million tons of green ammonia per year and avoid over 1.2 million tons of CO2 in ten years.

RIPPLE, a coordinated project by Denmark's Ammonia Carriers, which plans to retrofit four Large ammonia transport vessels with dual fuel engines capable of using the same ammonia transported as fuel on board. The project represents one of the first European cases of commercial application of this technology on a large scale, and could accelerate the emergence of a supply network in European ports. The initiative aims to demonstrate that ships can dramatically reduce emissions without changing the logistical function.

Another strategic strand concerns synthetic methanol, which is now considered one of the most mature alternative fuels for maritime transport. The L'Ardoise project, coordinated by the MGH Energy, will build a plant capable of produce 40 thousand tons of e-methanol every year for the and 70 thousand tons of e-kerosene for aviation. Similarly, Musel GreenMet, coordinated by the Hymet Musel of the group HyFive, will be developed in the Spanish port of El Musel an industrial platform for the production of e-methanol and bio-methanol for the maritime, aviation and chemical. The project exploits existing port infrastructures and the Hydrogen Valley of Asturias.

Also on the alternative fuels front is Victoria, a project based in Spain and coordinated by the German Icodos, which will produce e-methanol using biogenic CO2 from a wastewater treatment plant in Seville. The project aims to demonstrate how even widespread sources of carbon dioxide can be exploited in the production of sustainable fuels for maritime transport.

Alongside new fuels, the Innovation Fund supports electrification of navigation. The FIN-SWE-EC project, coordinated by the Finnish company Finnlines of the Neapolitan group Grimaldi, will involve the two modern ro-pax ships Finnsirius and Finncanopus engaged in connections between Finland and Sweden, which will be equipped with storage systems of about 30 MWh per ferry. The expected savings are about 36,000 tons of CO2 per year. The initiative aims to become a model for the electrification of Europe's Motorways of the Sea.

The Seatron project, based in Germany and coordinated by the Danish group A.P. Møller-Mærsk, which involves the transformation of a 3,500 TEU container ship into a A fully electric ship. The heart of the project will be replaceable modular battery containers and high-power systems for charging during stops in the port terminals.

The focus is also on existing fleets. The RETRO-EMT project, coordinated by Holland Maas of the Netherlands Scheepvaart Beheer VII, will demonstrate how the ships already operational can be decarbonised through a combination of CO2 capture on board, wind-assisted propulsion, hydrodynamic optimizations and energy efficiency. The reduction of estimated fuel consumption is over 26%.

The Spanish CATalonia REcycled Fuels (CATREF) project, coordinated by the Irish XFuel Ltd. (owned by the Japanese NYK), will transform marine oily waste into Marine Gas Oil (MGO) compliant with ISO 8217 standards used by ships. The model has been designed to be replicated close to the major European ports.

On the infrastructural side, the Italian project stands out Ravenna CCS Phase 2, coordinated by the Italian ENI, which will carry out one of the largest European hubs for the reception, transport and the permanent storage of CO2. The platform will be in able to receive liquefied carbon dioxide by ship, rail and transforming Ravenna into a strategic junction of the future European carbon logistics.

A complementary model is represented by ASTOR, coordinated by Norway's Aker BP, which will develop an innovative system of direct transfer of CO2 from ships to storage sites subsea platforms, eliminating the need for offshore platforms and opening a new frontier in maritime management of industrial emissions.

The Phantom project, coordinated by Spain's Hydrogen Onsite and located in the port of Rotterdam, will develop a to convert ammonia into hydrogen using a innovative cracking system.

OffshoreCharge, a project coordinated by the Stillstrom of the Danish group A.P. Møller-Mærsk and to integrate offshore renewable energy with the maritime mobility. The technology will allow ships used in wind farms to recharge the batteries directly at sea, reducing operating costs and emissions, and increasing the efficiency of logistics related to offshore wind.