WinGD and Panasia sign agreement on LNG engine upgrades

Engine firm WinGD has signed an agreement with South Korean shipping technology company, Panasia, to install emissions abatement and fuel efficiency systems on existing X-DF engines. The first X-DF engines were introduced almost ten years ago, and the agreement is aimed at reducing those engines’ potential exposure to carbon pricing, thereby ensuring that vessels remain competitive for longer.

The partners will focus on systems that enable existing X-DF engines to achieve the same fuel consumption, emissions, and methane-slip levels as WinGD’s latest engines. Retrofit strategies include intelligent control by exhaust recycling (iCER) and variable compression ratio (VCR) technology. The result is effectively an upgrade from an original X-DF engine to an X-DF2.0 installation.

René Baart, head of Retrofit & Upgrade Solutions at the engine company, said: “Korea has been the biggest market for X-DF engines since they were introduced in 2016. It was therefore natural that we start here as we aim to upgrade our installed base to the latest efficient technologies. We are delighted to have found a partner, in Panasia, with so much expertise in the equipment and system integration of both Chinese- and Korean-built vessels.”

Panasia’s head of Sales, Joseph Ohg, commented: “This agreement builds on our strong system integration capabilities developed through supporting newbuild projects, and will allow us to deliver X-DF upgrades alongside our current ballast water treatment, scrubber and other retrofits for existing vessels. In partnership with WinGD we are looking forward to revisiting many of those vessels to ensure they can benefit from the advantages of cutting-edge dual-fuel LNG technology.”

The combination of iCER and VCR technologies will enable more than twofold reduction in methane slip compared to first-generation X-DF engines thereby reducing the cost of compliance with European and proposed IMO regulations.