NEWS

ShipFC consortium gets €10m fund injection to deliver world’s first high-power fuel-cell to be powered by green ammonia

A maritime innovation project looking to install the world’s first ammonia-powered fuel cell on a vessel has been awarded €10m funding from the European Union. NCSR Demokritos participates actively in this large scale, multidisciplinary undertaking providing expertise and know-how regarding simulation and safety issues.

The ShipFC project is being run by a consortium of fourteen European companies and institutions, co-ordinated by the Norwegian cluster organisation NCE Maritime CleanTech.  It has been awarded backing from the EU’s Horizon 2020 under its Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.

The project will see an offshore vessel, Viking Energy have a large 2MW ammonia fuel cell retrofitted, allowing it to sail solely on the clean fuel for up to 3,000 hours annually. The project will demonstrate that long-range, zero-emission voyages with high power on larger ships are possible.

In addition, the ShipFC project will perform studies on offshore construction and cargo vessels, to illustrate the ability to transfer this technology to other segments of the shipping industry.

About the consortium members

Alongside NCE Maritime Cleantech (NO), Eidesvik Shipping (NO), Equinor (NO), Prototech (NO) and Yara (NO) and Wärtsilä Norway (NO), major R&D organizations like Fraunhofer IMM (GE), an institute of the leading German organisation for applied research, the University of Strathclyde (UK) and the National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos (GR) will perform materials research and assess safety criteria. SME Persee (FR) specializes in energy management controls and data.

The test cases that will look at the ability to transfer the technology to other vessel types has led to North Sea Shipping (NO), Capital-Executive Ship Management (GR) and Star Bulk Ship Management (CY) also being part of the consortium. Sustainable Energy Norwegian Catapult Centre has the responsibility for testing autonomous sustainable energy systems as well as scaling-up of the ammonia fuel cell.

Media contacts for more information:

Hege Økland
CEO, NCE Maritime CleanTech
Tel.: +47 957 53 695
hege@maritimecleantech.no

Thanos Stubos
NCSR Demokritos, Athens, Greece
Tel.: +30 210 6503757
stubos@ipta.demokritos.gr