to higher renewable content as that achieves a cost level making it viable as well. If we attempt to do both today, the overall effect may be a delay in acceptance of the technology in general”.
CAN HYDROGEN BE ECONOMICAL? When discussing the economic feasibility of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the context of the Water-Go-Round project, Dr. Pratt points out that “the main value proposition for hydrogen fuel cell vessels is in the overall cost reduction for the vessel. Vessel owners will never need to do a complete ‘re-power’ again. First you’re going from a mechanical engine with hundreds of moving parts to the solid-state system of a fuel cell. Second, at end of life you do not need to swap engines; rather you just need to replace separate fuel cells once they have exceeded their life cycle. Overall this can result in maintenance reduction and down time reduction” which would ultimately reduce the overall operations and maintenance cost of the vessel.
Dr. Pratt also noted that a secondary value proposition of switching to a hydrogen fuel cell system is that the vessel is much quieter than comparable diesel engines and has no on-board pollution. This opens up many
possibilities, for example ship owners can take on non-traditional charters for passenger vessels like “cooperate meetings” and “nature excursions” because of the reduced noise and air pollution.
THE FUTURE With the Water-Go-Round project close to its first voyage and other projects like the HYSEAS III project in the United Kingdom or the HYBRIDskip project in Norway at different stages of execution, it is clear that maritime hydrogen technology is rapidly progressing from concept to creation on a global scale. Similar to the mainstream acceptance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, hydrogen will likely achieve similar widespread adoption. Dr. Pratt asserts hydrogen fuel cell vessels will initially cluster in areas with stricter emission controls, like the Emission Control Area established in Annex VI of MARPOL, among vessels with a fixed route such as ferries, tug boats, and coastal traders. As hydrogen production spreads worldwide, larger vessels with more variable routes like container ships may start to adopt this technology. Noting the economy of scale of a container ship, Dr. Pratt is quick to note that “one container ship could justify a new hydrogen production facility” in a port suggesting the global adoption of this technology may be just on the horizon.
53 | The Report • September 2019 • Issue 89
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