Do you want to power your whole ship or replace diesel auxiliary generators? Do you want to use hydrogen, ammonia or methanol to generate energy? These are legitimate questions when it comes to purchasing marine fuel cells, highlighting their flexibility, says Dr. Andreas Bodén, SVP & CTO of PowerCell Group.
Many marine uses
Fuel cells can be used in several ways in the maritime industry. Onboard larger vessels, like big cruise ships or containerships, they can replace the diesel generator sets or auxiliary engines used to power hotel-side operations or crew quarters and used for manoeuvring in port.
This means zero local emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) such as black carbon in port communities. According to the World Health Organization, these pollutants significantly impact human health. They can exacerbate existing conditions like asthma and cause respiratory problems with long-term exposure linked to lung cancer.
These local emissions reductions also support FuelEU Maritime compliance. As of 2030, container and passenger ships greater than or equal to 5,000 Gross Tonnes (GT) must use shore power supplies for all electricity needs while moored in major EU ports or find alternatives to meet the emissions requirements while docked, including hydrogen and ammonia fuel cells, and biofuels and e-fuels, depending on their well-to-wake emissions reductions.
If port operators don’t want ship operators to have all the shore power fun, they can also use fuel cells to offer (and commercialise) onshore power supplies (OPS). Containerised fuel cells are replacing diesel generator sets in ports, and this technology has recently been trialled as a land-based shore power connection in the port city of Gothenburg – removing the need to plug into the fossil-fuelled grid.
On smaller vessels such as typical ferries or river barges, fuel cells are now comfortably powerful enough to take on primary propulsion duties. PowerCell is delivering hydrogen fuel cells to two RoPax ships operated by Torghatten Nord on Norway’s longest and arduous ferry route. PowerCell also recently announced it will equip the world’s first hydrogen-powered bulk carriers.
Methanol fuel cells?
Fuel cells come in different shapes and sizes. Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are smaller, much more efficient and offer a higher power density to alternatives. These fuel cells can directly use hydrogen, or with integrated reformer technology, they can also use ammonia or methanol to produce energy. This may sound like science fiction, but there are already commercial orders for PEM fuel cells featuring integrated methanol reformer technology, such as PowerCell’s M2Power 250 system.
Methanol offers a practical pathway for integrating hydrogen electric technologies without relying on pure hydrogen infrastructure. Plus, methanol can be used approximately 30% more efficiently in fuel cells than in internal combustion engines. With green methanol, and all other green fuels, set to be more expensive and less energy-dense than their fossil-based counterparts, this creates a significant operational expenditure (OPEX) benefit to using fuel cells.
Net-zero methanol fuel cells are just one option for cleaner, greener power generation onboard or in ports. With sustainable hydrogen infrastructure constantly expanding and evolving, zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells remain a strong candidate for many owners and operators. It is also technologically feasible and realistic to develop ammonia reformers too, which would offer another zero-carbon solution.
What about costs and safety?
These have historically been the primary barriers to more widespread fuel cell adoption. It is true that fuel cells still have a relatively high capital expenditure (CAPEX) but we’ve established that their lower OPEX can help to recover some of the sunk costs.
As regulations evolve and technology costs decrease as solutions become more commoditised, purchasers must constantly re-evaluate the costs of their decarbonisation options. The act of polluting is also becoming more costly, shortening the payback period for zero-emission technology. Carbon taxes and levies are already changing the equation.
While it’s true that hydrogen is flammable, fuel cells now have a proven safety track record. As well as in marine environments, fuel cells are used at conferences with around 80,000 people regularly milling past. If fuel cells can be used to electrify everything at a Coldplay concert or a golf tournament, there is no reason they can’t be used safely around people on a cruise ship or ferry.
There are also countless cases of fuel cell technology used in scenarios with potential hazards, such as constructions sites or off-road mining trucks. From a marine perspective, ships already have similar safety considerations for marine gas engines – including ventilation requirements, double-wall piping, gas leak and fire detection. With the alternative fuels transition underway, shipping has good gas handling training, standards and protocols in place too.
Fuel cells have associated benefits as well. They can be used to support load smoothing and peak shaving in ports or as auxiliaries. This can allow the primary engines to be operated more smoothly and efficiently or for ports to add resilience and redundancy to their energy infrastructure. Fuel cells are quiet and vibration-free since they contain almost no moving mechanical pieces. Fewer moving parts also minimises maintenance requirements compared to internal combustion engines.
Fuel cells give shipowners and port operators something valuable in the energy transition: choice. That’s a choice of where to install them, what to power with them, and increasingly what fuel to feed them. As regulations tighten, fuels diversify and shore power becomes mandatory in more places, flexible PEM fuel cell systems let ship and port owners and operators decarbonise how they want to. That’s why they have moved from trials to real commercial workloads onboard and onshore. Source: By Dr. Andreas Bodén, SVP & CTO of PowerCell Group
