Methanol engines on the rise
Because of its high potential for decarbonising shipping and protecting the environment, methanol is well on its way to becoming one of the main fuel options alongside LNG, ammonia and biofuels like FAME. Major market players such as Maersk and X-Press Feeders are supporting this trend by choosing to use methanol in new ships. A few years ago, engines that can run on methanol were few and far between. But now established engine manufacturers are increasingly opening up to the fuel and actively developing this market. At the same time, more and more engines are being retrofitted or converted before delivery to the end customer by specialist firms independent of the manufacturers.
The large number of businesses and institutions active in the field of methanol engines makes it increasingly difficult for shipping industry players to maintain an overview. For this reason, members of the Maritime Cluster Northern Germany (MCN) requested a market survey of all relevant players in the methanol combustion engines sector. MCN tasked GasKraft Engineering with compiling this survey.
The result is a comprehensive overview in table form of market participants who already offer, will offer, or are researching marine engines as main or auxiliary units, along with the key engine data. To maintain neutrality, no evaluations are made. The overview provides the key parameters for the engines presented, and includes fuel consumption figures researched at various load points, where this data was available. In some cases, the data has been supplemented with calculated estimates in order to provide as much information as is necessary in the basic design stage.
The market overview is aimed at decision-makers who are considering methanol as a marine fuel, as well as industry professionals who create basic designs for ships and want to identify suitable technologies. The overview is also of interest to component suppliers who wish to align their portfolio with the engines available on the market.
“The market for green fuels is on the move. Although the range of (soon-to-be) available methanol engines has grown considerably compared to previous years, it is still manageable enough to be presented in a clear overview,” says Henning Edlerherr, project manager at the MCN Lower Saxony office. “This is likely to change rapidly over the new few years. We can see that the engine manufacturers are already doing the groundwork.”
The market transparency study on methanol engines was conducted between 17 October and 31 December 2023. It was presented to the public for the first time at an online event on 8 April 2024. Following extensive web research and visits to relevant industry conferences, the data was compiled by the authors Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hinrich Mohr and Dr.-Ing. René Wolf, both of GasKraft Engineering. It therefore represents a snapshot of the current and future methanol engine market at the end of 2023.
Due to the high demand, GasKraft Engineering updated the study in December 2024 on behalf of the Maritime Cluster Northern Germany. The continuous growth in the supply of methanol engines makes regular updates necessary. An update was therefore produced just one year after the initial publication.
The revised version of the market transparency study was presented to the public on 15 January 2025 as part of the “2025 sustainable and innovative at sea!” event.
Request a copy of the market transparency study
![[Translate to English:] MCN-Markttransparenzstudie Methanol-Motoren](/fileadmin/_processed_/5/c/csm_MCN-Markttransparenzstudie-Methanol-Motoren-Titel_1c8f4ccd3d.jpg)
You can request a free copy of the market transparency study by sending an email to Henning Edlerherr (ni@maritimes-cluster.de).
Kontakt
Henning Edlerherr, Projektmanager Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland, Geschäftsstelle Niedersachsen
04404 98786-14, henning.edlerherr@maritimes-cluster.de