Ulstein Group has unveiled a hydrogen-powered ship design that it claims is market-ready, with sea trials happening as soon as 2022. The Ulstein SX190 Zero Emission DP2 construction support vessel is Ulstein’s first hydrogen powered offshore vessel, featuring a Nedstack fuel cell power system, the vessel can cater for a large variety of offshore support operations.
“The maritime industry needs to align and be ambitious in bringing green solutions forward for a sustainable future,” said Tore Ulstein, deputy CEO, Ulstein Group. “With this hydrogen-fueled vessel, we aim for future zero-emission operations of long endurance.”
This design uses proven and available technology, enabling clean shipping operations to reduce the environmental footprint of offshore projects; CO2, NOx and particle emissions are eliminated when using hydrogen fuel cells.
The Ulstein SX190 Zero Emission design is based on Ulstein’s existing SX190 vessel platform and has a total installed power of 7.5MW, of which 2MW is generated by a fuel cell power system, typically Nedstack Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, which are located in a separate, second engine room.
“Ulstein is constantly looking to improve marine operations and to reduce the environmental footprint of the vessels we deliver to the market”, said Ko Stroo, product manager at Ulstein Design & Solutions BV.
“Implementing fuel cell technology in a workhorse like the SX190 CSV design is one of the steps we take to move the marine industry into a more sustainable future, in addition to our X-Bow hull shape, Ulstein ZEDTM ‘get-in-and-leave-no-trace solution’ and plug-in hybrid solutions.”
With technology available today, the Ulstein SX190 design is already able to operate four days in zero-emission mode. However, with the rapid developments in hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies, a future zero-emission endurance of up to two weeks is targeted. For extended missions and capabilities, the vessel can fall back on its more conventional diesel-electric system using low-sulfur marine diesel oil.