Hyundai Heavy Industries Group says it is accelerating the era of eco-friendly ships by launching a demonstration project to apply fuel cells, which are spotlighted as a next-generation energy source, to large ships.
Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (KSME), the shipbuilding holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, has signed a main contract for the ‘Consortium for Demonstration of Fuel Cells for Ships’ with global energy companies Shell, Doosan Fuel Cell, Hiexium, and DNV.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Group will install a 600kW high-efficiency solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) on a 174,000m3 LNG carrier that Shell will operate from 2025. The fuel cell will be used for power generation. This ship uses fuel cells as auxiliary power units (APUs) and conducts demonstrations on actual trade routes for one year. The consortium then plans to develop and supply high-efficiency eco-friendly ships that can apply fuel cells to propulsion power sources in the long term.
Based on the experience of designing and building ships for the past 50 years, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group performs construction of demonstration ships, design and installation of SOFC for ships, and integration of ship systems.
Shell is in charge of ordering and managing demonstration vessels, operation of ships, and management of demonstration projects, while Doosan Fuel Cell and Hiexium develop and supply fuel cells for ships. DNV conducts structural and facility inspections of demonstration ships for classification certification.
Next-generation ships with eco-friendly energy sources such as LNG, hydrogen, and ammonia and high-efficiency fuel cell innovation systems such as fuel cells are receiving great attention in view of the IMO decarbonisation targets.
Ga Sam-hyeon, vice chairman KSME, said: “The shipbuilding and shipping industry is undergoing rapid innovation under the two axes of eco-friendliness and digital, I expect that.”
Shell SVP Carrie Trauss said, “With this consortium cooperation, we expect that we will be able to effectively reduce the carbon footprint of ships in the near future. ‧I am delighted to be working with leading companies in the shipping sector.”
Meanwhile, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group is developing its own technology related to SOFC in order to promote the fuel cell business for land and ships separately from this agreement.
