Norwegian Hydrogen on Monday (27 November) said it has entered into an agreement with the Vestland County Council that enables emission-free sailing with green hydrogen as soon as MS Skulebas is ready for hydrogen operation during summer 2024. 

Based in Måløy, Skulebas will soon be able to fill locally sourced, green hydrogen produced at Norwegian Hydrogen's factory in Hellesylt.

The fishing vessel Skulebas was delivered to Vestland County Council earlier this autumn. The vessel is used in the training of students at Måløy High School's program for fisheries, aquaculture and maritime subjects and is equipped with the latest innovative technology. This includes a propulsion system with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell in combination with a battery pack.

Norwegian Hydrogen has entered into an agreement with the county council that enables emission-free sailing with green hydrogen as soon as Skulebas is ready for hydrogen operation during summer 2024. 

Based in Måløy, Skulebas will soon be able to fill locally sourced, green hydrogen produced at Norwegian Hydrogen's factory in Hellesylt, which will be operational next year. With this factory, green hydrogen is now made available to maritime customers and other industries in the region who want to lead the way in the green transition.

Jørgen Kopperstad, Head of Maritime at Norwegian Hydrogen, said: "Skulebas is the first fishing vessel in the world that will sail on green hydrogen, completely emission-free. This will be a milestone, not only for us in Norwegian Hydrogen, but also for the maritime and fisheries industry. And not least for Måløy High School and the students there. We find it inspiring to supply hydrogen to a training vessel that will educate future seafarers, as it is precisely these that will propel these new technologies further."

"MS Skulebas has secured an agreement for access to green hydrogen. This hydrogen will be used in the fuel cell installed on board around mid-2024. For MS Skulebas, it is of the utmost importance that the hydrogen is produced in an environmentally friendly way using green power. Local production at Hellesylt is also a key requirement, as it limits the need for transport to and from the vessel," said Stig Antonsen, project manager for MS Skulebas.

The Norwegian maritime industry supplies the complete hydrogen solution to Skulebas. Corvus will deliver the fuel cell system, while Hexagon Purus will deliver a hydrogen storage solution for the school vessel built by Hvide Sande Shipyard in Denmark.

"This is a very important contract for us. First and foremost, we are grateful that Vestland County Council has chosen us as the supplier for a ship that is so prestigious and important for both the county municipality, Måløy High School, and everyone who works to promote green shipping. This makes us proud, and we are really looking forward to getting started," says Jens Berge, CEO of Norwegian Hydrogen.

Photo credit: Norwegian Hydrogen
Published: 29 November, 2023

Haropa Port on Thursday (23 November) said it signed an agreement with Verso Energy, a specialist in renewable energies to set up an industrial unit to produce low-carbon hydrogen and synthetic fuels in the HAROPA PORT port area in Grand-Quevilly.

The project involves the production of hydrogen by electrolysis of water at a capacity of up to 350 MW, representing a volume of more than 50,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year. The investment is around EUR 500 million (USD 547 million). It will be accompanied by a unit producing synthetic fuels from captured and recycled CO2, which will create some 150 direct jobs and 250 indirect jobs.  

“In this way, the project will be able to contribute to the decarbonisation of the industrial sector in the port area, as well as the air and sea transport sectors, where demand for sustainable fuels is growing significantly,” Haropa Port said in a statement. 

“This new production unit is strategic for HAROPA PORT and for the port of Rouen: ports are facing major decarbonisation challenges for which decarbonised hydrogen is becoming an essential lever.”

The site will be located on land belonging to HAROPA PORT in Grand-Quevilly, on the outskirts of Petit-Couronne. This development project will help to secure and strengthen the local industrial ecosystem. Commissioning is scheduled for 2029.

“We are proud to welcome VERSO ENERGY's future carbon-free hydrogen production unit to the Rouen port area. This major project confirms that the Seine axis is the valley of new fuels and new forms of mobility,” said Stéphane Raison, Managing Director of Haropa Port.

Project schedule

• Preparation of the environmental permit file: 1 year from the end of 2023, 
• Engineering studies : ongoing until the end of 2024, 
• Provisional date for obtaining administrative authorisations : 3rd quarter 2026,
• First construction : 3rd quarter 2026, and no more than 12 months after obtaining administrative authorisations,
• Commissioning of facilities : 3rd quarter 2029.

Photo credit: Haropa Port / Jean-François Damois
Published: 28 November, 2023

Engineering and equipment development firm TECO 2030 on Friday (24 November) said it has successfully injected its fuel cell system with hydrogen and created emission free hydrogen-electric power. 

The 400kW module represents the most compact and energy dense system available for marine vessels and other heavy-duty equipment.

By 2030, the target is to produce a capacity of 4.000 units per year at TECO’s giga factory in Narvik, Northern Norway. In that way, TECO wants to potentially reduce the amount of CO2 emissions similar to the number of annual emissions from countries like Sweden or Portugal and cities like Berlin or Toronto according to the C40 Knowledge Hub.

TECO’s fuel cell technology offers a compelling alternative to traditional diesel machinery, addressing critical environmental concerns, while also relieving the pressure on port- and city grid capacity, and the use of critical materials. The switch to fuel cells signifies a major step in supporting the clean transition targets under the European Green Deal, the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and other frontrunner regions.

“A fuel cell is the next generation of engines and power generators, where hydrogen is the fuel,” says an enthusiastic Tore Enger, Group CEO, TECO 2030. “Operating one FCM400 unit instead of a diesel generator, saves our planet from over 9000 tons of CO2 emissions - or consuming over 3.5 million liters of diesel - during 35,000 hours of operations.”

Since the IPO in October 2020, TECO has invested heavily in its marine and heavy-duty fuel cells development, which has resulted in its leading fuel cell system.

Over the past few months, the company has built and installed the FCM400 into the test bench in Graz, where the goal has been to utilize the FCM400 to produce electricity from hydrogen. The first hydrogen has now been injected into the fuel cell module, validating the technology performance.

The system will undergo further testing, with the intention to deploy the first system during the first half of 2024. The manual production of FCM400 systems will continue at the technology development partner AVL in Graz, Austria for the next few units before moving the production to Narvik, Norway during the first half of 2024. The Narvik site is already well underway with manual production of fuel cell stacks.

The innovative fuel cell system is an advanced clean energy generation system. The attributes of the modular 400kW fuel cell system include industry leading energy efficiency, inherent safety concept, leading weight/size dimensions and component design, lifetime, and rapid dynamic load response.

“A remarkable accomplishment, our FCM400 system has officially been tested with hydrogen and produced electricity as expected and the performance data collected proves our expectation of how we have met or outperformed our own expectations,” says an engaged Tore Enger. “The road to a better and more sustainable future is becoming clearer and clearer to us as we reached this enormous milestone in our company’s history,” Enger concludes.

Photo credit: TECO 2030
Published: 27 November, 2023