One of these projects is H2Maritime. The main objective of the 4-year H2Maritime project (20219–2023) was to establish design criteria and operational philosophies for hydrogen bunkering and storage systems and fuel cell power systems for propulsion.

Our society is faced with climate and environmental challenges in all sectors, and the maritime sector is no exception. In Norway, the ambition is to stimulate green growth in the maritime industry. The Norwegian Maritime Authority has taken part in the project “Hydrogen and Fuel Cells for Maritime Applications” (H2Maritime) to contribute to research and build new competence on the use of hydrogen and fuel cells in the maritime sector, says the Director General og Shipping and Navigation, Knut Arild Hareide.

Mapping of knowledge gaps

Safety issues related to the use of hydrogen are very different from those of conventional fuels and require different safety measures and barriers are required. Operational experience, training materials, operational safety, safety distances and hazardous zones are some of the knowledge gaps.

The project has provided new insights into how to refuel or bunker hydrogen in a safe and efficient manner and how to design and operate fuel cells for maritime propulsion systems. The methods and simulation tools developed in the project have been applied and validated against experimental data and system designs for real-world use cases. The knowledge gained in the H2Maritime project has been and will continue to be transferred to many maritime applications and industries in Norway.

The H2Maritime project was organised into three work packages (WPs). New methods, models and simulation tools were developed and used to provide more scientific and technical insight into challenges related to:

  • fast refuelling of gaseous hydrogen (GH2) into storage units suitable for small vessels;
  • efficient bunkering of liquid hydrogen (LH2) and operation of LH2 storage tanks suitable for larger vessels;
  • dimensioning and efficient operation of large maritime hydrogen-based fuel cell systems combined with batteries for propulsion;
  • safety issues related to gaseous and liquid hydrogen systems for maritime applications.

More information is accessible

Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) coordinated and managed the project, which was funded by the Research Council of Norway (80%) and industry partners. Other participants included the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the University of South-East Norway (USN), the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) and the five industry partners Equinor, ABB Marine, HAV Design and Solutions, Umoe Advanced Composites (UAC) and Vysus Group.

More information about the project and contact details can be found here.