Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering trying Fuel Cells for Vessels

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), part of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group's shipbuilding sector, is joining Shell, Doosan Fuel Cell, HyAxiom, and DNV to form a consortium to demonstrate the use of fuel cells in large vessels.

Shell will manage and operate the ship and the demonstration project. The HHI Group will ship, design and install a 600-KW Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) for power generation. Doosan Fuel Cell and HyAxiom will provide the fuel cells for the ship. DNV will undertake inspections of the demonstration ship for accreditation registration.

"The shipbuilding and shipping industries are experiencing rapid innovations environmentally friendly and digitally," said KSOE Vice Chairman Samhyun Ka. "We expect to preoccupy next-generation eco-friendly ship technologies and speed up marine decarbonization through this fuel cell-applied ship demonstration."

The SOFC will be installed on a 174,000 cubic-meter LNG carrier, which will be run by Shell from 2025. The SOFC will be used for power generation.

Based on the findings of this demonstration project, HHI will develop and supply high-efficiency, eco-friendly ships with fuel cells for propulsion power in the long term.

Karrie Trauth, SVP of Shipping & Maritime at Shell, said "This consortium and the cutting-edge technology we're pioneering could help deliver less carbon-intensive operations in the near term while unlocking a pathway to net-zero through the blending of conventional and alternative fuels until zero-carbon options are available at scale. We're excited to be collaborating with some of the leading names in shipping who share a vision of a zero-emission industry and are working hard to progress shipping decarbonization."