Maritime initiative was granted 8m euros in European funding, following Norwegian government’s decision to focus on development and commercialization of hydrogen as a carbon-neutral fuel.
The initiative called “HySHIP”, embraces 14 European partners collaborating on the design and construction of a new ro-ro demonstration vessel running on liquid green hydrogen (LH2).
Specifically, the vessel will be operated by Norwegian maritime industry group Wilhelmsen and will distribute LH2 to hydrogen hubs along the Norwegian coast. It is slated to be operational from 2024.
Going under the concept name “Topeka”, the vessel will be the first of its kind to enter commercial service.
This zero-emission vessel service will also be a valuable demonstrator of the technology development supporting Equinor’s ambitions to move cargo from road to sea and to halve emissions from our maritime activities in Norway by 2030.
….Frida Eklöf Monstad, Vice President Logistics and emergency response in Equinor said.
What is more, participants aim to develop a viable LH2 supply chain and bunkering platform.
Through the project, both sides goal to lower the development and operational cost of a wider move to LH2 for ship propulsion throughout Europe.
For the records, the EUR 8m funding from the EU’s Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 under the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH2 JU) is subject to the signing of a grant agreement by the HySHIP partners by the end of this year.
Concluding, the HySHIP consortium includes: Wilhelmsen, Kongsberg Maritime LMG Marin, Equinor, Norled, PersEE, Diana Shipping, Stolt-Nielsen Inland Tanker Service BV, Air Liquide, NCE Maritime CleanTech, DNV GL, ETH Zürich, Strathclyde University and Demokritos.
