Hydrogen makes inroads in container ship sector

[Riviera, 4/21/2022]

Many container ships will be eligible for hydrogen fuel cells – and the time to make it happen is now. This was discussed during Riviera Maritime Media’s Developing hydrogen fuel cells for container ships webinar, part of Container Ship Tech & Ops week. Panellists included ICCT Marine team Associate Researcher Elise Georgeff… Ms. Georgeff looked at the transpacific container ship corridor for her presentation. She explained, “We model a ship route’s energy demands and compare them to the engineroom’s capacity to hold hydrogen fuel cells – then estimate if the routes are feasible with the liquid hydrogen (LH₂) the ship can store on board. If not feasible, we investigate options to increase attainment, like including an extra refuelling location.” The aim of the study, she said, was for ports to see what they need to prepare for in terms of hydrogen for the future, and to describe what infrastructure ports need for hydrogen refuelling. The study looked at average weekly and highest weekly demands and concluded that for one year, there was a Pacific-wide demand of 700,000 tonnes for container ships, and that the Aleutian Islands of Alaska were strategically important for hydrogen refuelling, allowing for 171 additional voyages. Ms. Georgeff summed up, “It is a first glimpse of what ports can expect when hydrogen becomes more mainstream.”