Norway goes big on hydrogen- and ammonia-fuelled ships

The five dry bulk carriers will be commercially managed by Maris Fiducia Norway, which is the Norwegian operation of Dutch shipowner Maris Fiducia, for a zero-emissions time charter with Schulte & Bruns. The aim of the project is to establish a commercial operation for vessels operating on hydrogen fuel, proving the feasibility of hydrogen technologies for shipping.

The project grew from a conversation with Jørgen Kopperstad from Norwegian Hydrogen about fuel availability and technical competence in the Norwegian maritime cluster, noted Maris Fiducia Group chief executive, Markku Vedder.

Dutch naval architectural and marine engineering firm Ankerbeer is designing the vessels, which will incorporate a dual-fuel hydrogen international combustion engine (ICE) combined with fuel cells for auxiliary power.

Each of the ships will have a deckhouse containing hydrogen fuel cells and a complete hydrogen energy system, a so-called Zero Emission Pod (ZEPOD), developed by Norway’s HAV Hydrogen. Each ZEPOD will deliver a total capacity of 400 kW to run all auxiliary systems on board the bulk carriers. The intention is to increase the capacity of the ZEPODs to 1 MW capacity at a later stage.

ZEPOD, which received an approval in principle from DNV in 2023, has several fuel cells mounted together with a complete hydrogen distribution system, control and safety system, including emergency shutdown system, ventilation system, cooling system, and DC/DC power distribution system.

Oslo-listed HAV Hydrogen is developing its first full-scale ZEPOD, which will be ready for testing next year, with the intention to deliver a system by the end of 2025, depending on the shipyard.

Green hydrogen to operate the vessels will be supplied by Alesund-based Norwegian Hydrogen.

Ammonia for Ships

Probably the most high-profile of all the alternative-fuelled projects receiving funding is Höegh Autoliners’ Aurora-class car carrier newbuilding programme. With the latest round of grants, the shipowner has now received a total of Nrk255.59M towards the construction of four ammonia-fuelled pure car truck carriers (PCTCs), which will be among the first to incorporate MAN Energy Solutions two-stroke, ammonia dual-fuel engines. Unlike the first eight PCTCs in the class that will be built ‘ammonia ready’ and initially operate with LNG dual-fuel-technology, the four Enova-backed newbuilds will be ammonia-burning right out of the box when they are delivered in 2027.

“Shipping companies need to send a clear signal to the rest of the value chain”

Höegh Autoliners chief executive, Andreas Enger, wants his company to take the lead in showing that clean ammonia is a viable zero-carbon shipping fuel. “We believe it is important for shipping companies to send a clear signal to the rest of the value chain that the technology can be realised in a short time and that there will be demand for carbon-neutral fuel,” he says.

Plans call for Höegh Aurora, the first of the LNG dual-fuelled PCTCs, to be christened at China Merchants Heavy Industry in early August.

Amon Maritime’s new ammonia gas venture, Amon Gas, received almost U$17M in backing from Enova to support the construction of two mid-size ammonia-fuelled gas carriers.