Rolls-Royce mtu Series 4000 Marine Engines Receive DNV Methanol Readiness Certification
en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 31, Rolls-Royce received the Methanol Readiness Certificate from international classification society DNV for its current mtu Series 4000 marine engines. DNV confirmed Rolls-Royce's technical solution, under which newly built ship propulsion systems can be retrofitted for methanol dual-fuel operation in the future. This certification pertains to the future retrofit solution and does not indicate that Series 4000 engines have already been fully converted to methanol dual-fuel operation.
Prior to obtaining the certification, Rolls-Royce had conducted multi-stage testing on methanol engines. In 2025, the company completed a bench test of a pure methanol-powered high-speed marine engine in Friedrichshafen, Germany; subsequently, methanol single-fuel and dual-fuel tests were carried out on various test benches, accumulating and analyzing over 5,000 hours of operating data. These test results were used in the development of the Series 4000 methanol retrofit solution.
DNV officially presented the certificate to Rolls-Royce on the eve of the SMM 2026 Hamburg International Maritime Trade Fair. Olaf Drews, Head of Marine Engines and Pressure Equipment at DNV, handed the certificate to Lukas Köhler, Senior Vice President of Global Marine and Mining Business at Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
In addition to the methanol pathway, Rolls-Royce completed testing and approval of its main mtu engine series for sustainable fuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in accordance with DIN EN 15940 in 2021; in spring 2026, the company also completed laboratory testing of MATERA e-Diesel, a renewable synthetic diesel, in collaboration with German synthetic fuel company INERATEC.
