Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) announced the financing of two wind propulsion system (WAPS) projects through the Energy Efficiency Technologies Fund (FEET). This action marks the first implementation of the FEET fund.
Project Details
The FEET fund operates as the first global fund to connect fuel savings with credible regulations in energy efficiency technologies (EET) on ships. This fund enables financing of up to 100% of initial costs through a blended financial structure. FEET is managed by AIM Horizon Investments and works with GCMD as a carbon reduction advisor. Additionally, this fund is supported by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, DBS Bank, and ING.
Installation of New Systems
The financed projects include the installation of three suction sails measuring 22 meters on the MV Pacific Sentinel and MV Pacific Sunstone ships. These two vessels are the first EPS ships to utilize WAPS systems.
This financing stems from a previous collaboration between GCMD and EPS aimed at developing methods to assess the fuel savings of the WAPS systems installed on the MV Pacific Sentinel. To evaluate the performance of this retrofit, GCMD collected 276 million data points during four months of free market activities in North America, selecting 203 valid transfers for performance calculation.
The FEET fund uses this methodology, which has been reviewed by an independent third party, to assess the fuel savings of the WAPS projects. Project data will be independently reviewed and verified, and these verified savings will assist in determining payments from shipowners.
The goal of these projects is not only to demonstrate the effectiveness of EET technologies but also to accurately estimate fuel savings under real operational conditions. Despite the existing methodology for measuring these savings, the initial FEET projects with EPS will advance to the next stage: testing how the pay-as-you-save financing operates by linking payments to verified fuel savings.
