Everllence pioneered the platform of two-stroke methanol-burning engines over a decade ago, with the first commercial engine entering service in 2016. Building on this experience, Everllence became the first company to launch a small-bore, four-stroke, methanol-burning GenSet in 2024—the 21/31DF-M (Dual-Fuel Methanol) unit—with several already in commercial operation.

Building further on the 21/31 platform, the successful operation on ethanol provides Everllence with a fully operational engine with which to document ethanol’s capabilities as fuel.

Rasmus Frimann Nielsen, Senior Manager, Head of Four-Stroke Small-Bore Engineering, Everllence, said: “This engine platform has shown great promise when burning alternative fuels, and, during testing, we even managed to expand the ethanol fuel-share compared with methanol. In general, the past few years have seen steadily growing interest in ethanol from the market. We always do our utmost to listen to these signals and had accordingly been carrying out the necessary design considerations, which has provided us with a solid technical foundation. Tests in Frederikshavn have now provided us with the technical know-how to take us to the next level. We are still evaluating the data; however, it confirms our earlier assumption that we could run the 21/31 engine on ethanol without issues.”

Lars Zimmermann, Director, Sales & Promotion, Marine GenSets, Everllence, said: “We keep a close eye on the market and see some uncertainty among our customers regarding which fuel strategy they should pursue. In response, Everllence has pioneered many fuel-flexible solutions with ethanol on the 21/31 platform, just the latest. Our position as the world’s leading engine designer means that we have a special, ongoing obligation to develop new technologies to decarbonize the global maritime industry. Now we need legislation in place that considers the case of ethanol as a viable fuel source, as well as developing a requisite market demand.”