Norled is about to start fuelling the world’s first hydrogen-powered ferry, Hydra in Norway
Delegates at Riviera Maritime Media’s annual Maritime Hybrid, Electric & Hydrogen Fuel Cells Conference in Bergen, Norway, were updated on this ground-breaking project to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen as a fuel for passenger ships.
Norled project manager Ivan Østvik said Hydra has operated successfully on batteries since it was brought into service in 2020. Over the rest of this year, it will start using hydrogen fuel and proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for the first time.
“We are doing the final checks at the shipyard, south of Bergen,” said Mr Østvik. “Hydra will sail from the shipyard this weekend and will then be filled with liquid hydrogen. We will start the fuel cells in December and it will do the first sailing.”
Hydra will operate between three ports in Norway over the northern hemisphere winter months on liquid hydrogen.
Norled had to engineer and build a dedicated hydrogen bunkering tower for this project and sources the fuel from Linde’s plant in Germany.
Hydra has two Ballard 200-kW fuel cells and enough fuel for 12 days of sailings. At an average speed of 9 knots, it has endurance for 1,000 nautical miles. Hydrogen is stored on deck in cylindrical tanks of 10.0 m in length and 3.5 m in diameter.
“These tanks and pipes are vacuum insulated so there is no heat leak and zero boil off,” said Mr Østvik.
Hydrogen is vapourised in a processing area and then as a gas fed into the fuel cells. Norled has installed gas and flame detectors as a precaution and has emergency venting systems on board Hydra.
Mr Østvik said Norled is already looking for future projects for hydrogen-fuelled ships and for Norwegian sources of the fuel.
In another session, delegates heard there will be more hydrogen-powered ferries in Norway from 2025, as two have been ordered to operate around the Lofoten islands and from Bodø port.
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