Europe is home to 69 e-fuel projects that could serve shipping but only six are operational, T&E’s updated e-fuels tracker shows. This highlights the difficulty Europe is having in getting big projects off the ground. Effective financial support combined with clean fuel targets would ensure the EU remains competitive in this strategic new market, says T&E.

The introduction of an e-fuel target for shipping in the EU in 2023 - FuelEU Maritime - has been followed by the conception of a number of projects across Europe. Spain leads the way, followed by Denmark, Finland and France. If all projects were to become operational, they could produce up to 4.09 Mtoe of e-fuels by 2033 - 14% of European shipping’s fuel needs. While progress is slow, things could be moving in the right direction with the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley project reaching FID in February with a projected production of 474,000 toe/year of e-ammonia and e-methanol.

T&E found three operational projects in China, but these are producing 10 times what the operational plants in Europe are producing. This ability to scale more quickly could see Europe lose ground. Chinese production without competition from Europe risks flooding the European market. Europe must invest in local e-fuels production to ensure it stays ahead to avoid a repeat of the solar panel saga, says T&E.

Constance Dijkstra, maritime policy manager at T&E, said: “While Europe hesitates, China is actually getting e-fuels off the ground. If Europe wants to be a leading e-fuels producer, it needs to bridge the price gap between EU-made e-fuels and fossil fuels, and get shipping companies to start using those fuels instead of defaulting to imported LNG or biofuels.”