WinGD to offer first lower-emissions ethanol-fueled ship engines from 2026
Swiss manufacturer WinGD will be ready next year to offer its first ship engines powered by ethanol, it said on Tuesday, a lower-emissions fuel that can be produced from biomass sources like corn and sugarcane.
With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) targeting net-zero emissions in the industry by 2050, the shipping industry has been exploring various ways to cut pollution, including installing engines that can be powered by lower-carbon fuels.
The company is in discussion with several shipowners, ethanol fuel suppliers and class societies about the first commercial applications of its ethanol-fueled two-stroke marine engine, WinGD said.
Deliveries for newbuild and retrofit applications for the engine will start in 2027, it added.
The company has been studying ethanol fuel, which has a similar combustion and emissions profile to methanol, since 2014.
WinGD's vice-president for research and development Sebastian Hensel said the engines represented "a further lower-carbon alternative to shipowners and operators."
Other engine manufacturers have also been looking into ethanol. Germany-based Everllence said last week that it has successfully run the world's first two-stroke engine on ethanol in Japan.
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