Hydrogen Fueled Product Tanker Awarded Grant

A Swedish company has just been awarded $5.3 million in grant money from the European Union to develop the first hydrogen fueled product tanker of its kind.  The project aims to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen as a zero-carbon fuel for the maritime sector. The hopes are that this will accelerate its adoption by demonstrating the systems on a converted in-service vessel in the coming year.

Tore Enger, Group CEO of TECO 2030 said, “I am grateful to the EU who wants to assist us in realizing a retrofit fuel cell project for reducing and eliminating emissions along the European coastlines.”  TECO 2030 is leading the project in partnership with Shell International Trading and Shipping Company and Shell International Exploration and Production.

The project has been given the name  HyEkoTank project. The project shall be collaborating with Ektank as the owner of the tanker, Blom Maritime, TECO Solutions, Umoe Advanced Composites, FKAB Marine Design, Neste Oyj, and UiT – The Arctic University of Norway.

An 18,600 dwt product tanker will be retrofitted to suit the project parameters. A 2.4 MW fuel system that TECO 2030 have developed and a 4000 kg compressed hydrogen storage unit shall be installed. In February 2023 the project shall commence, with demonstrations expected to start in 2024 with the tanker.

If this type of technology was adapted quickly this would be a game changer for the global shipping industry. 90% of the world’s total trade is done via ocean shipping. Currently around 1 billion tons of CO2 is released into the atmosphere. This accounts for upto 3% of all greenhouse gasses. Once this revolutionary new system has been developed that will be one huge step towards carbon zero shipping. 

The fuel cell system will be bought by Shell to provide the renewable hydrogen to power the project.  The group of businesses involved believe that this hydrogen field product tanker shall be producing zero emissions at berth and when in transit will see a vast reduction in GHG emissions.

“Together we will show the world what fuel cells are capable of when retrofitting a product tanker for Ektank,” said Enger.

SOURCE: maritime-executive