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April 17 2024
Backed by the EU, an impressive pool of partners aims to make European shipyards more efficient and less harmful to the environment and society. Grieg Green is part of the project.
Reducing our industry’s negative impact is not just about emissions but also about energy efficiency and circularity. Through the EU-backed EcoShipYard research and innovation project, industry partners want to establish tools and processes to propel EU shipyards towards sustainable shipbuilding practices and material circularity.
Estimations say the EU has between 1.3 and 2.1 million LDT (Light Displacement Tonnage) of Scrap annually. The European shipbuilding industry strives to respond to challenges related to competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability while considering GHG emissions from floor processes during non-operational activities during the ship’s lifecycle (shipbuilding, repair, maintenance, refit). These processes generate pollution and waste at high energy consumption and other costs. And at the end of a ship’s life, dismantling practices produce waste and scrap.
To enhance environmental performance in shipyards and promote circularity in ship materials, it is essential to implement advanced technologies for shipyard processes, manage and reduce energy consumption and waste more efficiently, and establish improved traceability of materials. These measures are necessary to ensure sustainability in line with the EU Green Deal and EU Circular Economy Action Plan.
EcoShipYard’s goal is to create a roadmap for shipbuilding processes that minimizes environmental impacts and ensures compliance with regulations and directives. They aim to deliver a TRL8 product as a service to shipyards to help them quantify their environmental performance and assist them in becoming greener.
The expected outcome of EcoShipYard’s research and development efforts includes the development of models, digital tools, digital twin, and validation for both the ship at its non-operational activities and shipyard processes/operations.
Grieg Green contributes to the project by sharing our expertise on lifecycle emissions, analysis for sustainable end-of-life management, and material passport.
“We see the challenges and possibilities in our industry every day, and look forward to sharing our expertise in this very important project. The EcoShipYard project will be an influential contribution to lift the whole industry towards a higher standard. We are committed to advancing the EU’s environmental and climate goals, reducing emissions, and promoting a circular economy in the shipbuilding sector,” says Managing Director of Grieg Green, Pia Meling.
The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 101138730
