Fuel recyclers Ecoslops have won a €200,000 subsidy to be used to advance their P2R- MDO project for the desulphurisation of Marine Diesel Oil (MDO).
Ecoslops’ technology upgrades ship-generated hydrocarbon residue (slops) into valuable marine fuels (IFO and MDO).
The subsidy award was won under the Future Programme’s Worldwide Innovation Challenge, awarded by the French Government, in the “Collection, Sorting and Recycling” category.
The project aims to reduce the amount of sulphur in MDO by upgrading ship-generated slops to under 0.1% in accordance with the most stringent MARPOL Annex VI regulations, which stipulates that vessels within Emission Control Areas (ECAs) must burn fuel oil with a sulphur content of less than 0.1%.
Vincent Favier, CEO, Ecoslops, said: “Innovation is the only way to provide ship owners and port authorities with an effective environmental and technical solution for the sustainable disposal of slops. This is the principle that Ecoslops was founded upon, and this prestigious award and financial subsidy demonstrates the viability of our technology, and the significant and positive impact that it can have within shipping as the industry looks to further improve its sustainability credentials.”
The competition is organised by the “Innovation 2030” Commission, an initiative launched in 2013 by the President of the French Republic to tackle the major challenges that may face the world in 2030, and identify opportunities which present a significant opportunity for the French economy. The initiative is supported by the Minister for the Economy, Industry and the Digital Sector, and the Minister Delegate with the responsibility for SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy. It is financed within the framework of the Investing in the Future Programme (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir).
Vincent Favier concluded, “The selection of our project for the award and the financial support we have received will enable us to further accelerate the development of our technology.”
The award demonstrates the rapid development the company has made since Ecoslops’ first micro-refinery in the Port of Sinès commenced industrial production in 2015.
To date, the company has successfully regenerated over 10,000 tonnes of slops into marine fuel oil (IFO and MDO), which were then sold back into the marine fuel supply chain. The company is on target to run the refinery at full production capacity of 2,500 tonnes per month (30,000 tonnes per year) by the end of 2016. Ecoslops is also developing further projects in the Port of Constanta on the Black Sea, and in the Port of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. The company is also working on two new sites in the ARA region (Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam) and also in the Mediterranean, and has initiated talks for new facilities in Egypt, The Middle East and South Africa.
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