HYDROGEN INFRASTRUCTURE Matching ambitions Norway is matching Scotland’s hydrogen commitments. The country is already a world leader in transportation decarbonization, with initiatives including creating green shipping corridors between Norway and Germany, as well as to the UK, where Marine2o recently announced that it will work with the Port of London Authority to construct a hydrogen refueling facility on the River Thames. The short sea segment looks set to act as a proving ground for the viability of hydrogen, with a view to expanding corridors and the attractiveness of hydrogen to large commercial vessels. Recently Enova, a funding distribution company for Norway’s Ministry of Climate and the Environment, announced that it will support the hydrogen-powered Viasea 2. Due to be built by The Norwegian Ship Design Company, this short sea container ship will use a hydrogen combustion engine and long-distance storage tanks together with rotor sails. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges recently announced ambitions to be climate neutral by 2050, and it too is in a position to be part “For shipping to access green fuels and to support the global energy transitions, infrastructure needs to be established at ports“ Lynn Loo, chief executive, GCMD of regional and international green shipping corridors. The port has a strong focus on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), but is also focusing on green hydrogen. Air Liquide is constructing a pilot facility at the port to break down ammonia and convert it to hydrogen, with the plant due to commence operations in 2024. Further afield, Yanmar Power Technology has implemented its new hydrogen fuel cell system in the Hanaria, a hybrid passenger vessel. Two of Yanmar’s 240kW H 2 fuel cell units will be used to generate electricity for the batteries and electric motors that will operate in conjunction with biodiesel generators. Yanmar is working with other partners on The Nippon Foundation’s Zero Emission Ship project to create not just vessels but refueling infrastructure as well, and has already With Yanmar’s test boat, engineers were able to verify the operation of the hydrogen fuel cell system and the control of the electric powertrain during actual sea trials demonstrated a hydrogen refueling vessel. This in-port boat features a hydrogen fuel cell and a 30m hose to connect vessels with hydrogen storage tanks. In the USA, there could be an on-water hydrogen refueling vessel operating out of the Port of San Francisco if a new project gets the go-ahead. A decision is imminent on the new Waterfront Maritime Hydrogen Demonstration Project, which will be created by a partnership between six entities, including Hornblower Energy, the Port of San Francisco, the US Department of Energy and Air Liquide. As well as a new hydrogen barge for on-water refueling, the project aims to provide hydrogen production, storage and refueling as part of a hydrogen ecosystem in the San Francisco Bay area. This will add to other in-port hydrogen, methanol and ammonia refueling locations around the world, with some experts predicting as many as 200 commercial vessels using these alternative fuels on the world’s oceans before the end of the decade. This is still some way off the number needed to achieve the Global Maritime Forum’s 2030 target, but it’s a further sign that in some sectors of the market, momentum is building. 24 // January 2024 // ElectricHybridMarineTechnology.com