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Posted on December 11, 2022 at 12:49 p.m. by
The Maritime Executive
The fourth International Maritime Organization (IMO) GHG study reported that global shipping resulted in about one billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and three percent of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a CO2 equivalent basis. Therefore, for the maritime industry to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, it must reduce emissions by 45 percent in 2030 compared to 2010 levels and reach net zero by 2050. Several options for decarbonizing the sector include batteries, fuel cells (FC), green hydrogen, green ammonia, e-methane and carbon capture. However, there is yet to be a clear winning solution.
A new report from IDTechEk, “Fuel Cell Boats and Ships 2023-2033”, made a strong case for fuel cells to play a key role in this decarbonisation journey. The chemical energy in green fuels can be converted to mechanical energy in a number of ways, including combustion. IDTechEk highlights fuel cells with their high potential as a highly efficient solution that offers a path to zero emissions.
“Overall, batteries and hydrogen and ammonia fuel cells have great potential to create long-term pathways to zero emissions,” said Luke Gear, chief technology analyst at IDTechEx. “It is easy to envision a future with wider adoption of PEMFC hydrogen and batteries in the medium term and adoption of SOFC ammonia in the longer term.” However, what is clear is that reducing emissions in the maritime sector will continue to depend on huge investments, financial support and policy drivers from the public and private sectors.”
Currently, two viable technologies are available to the marine sector in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Hydrogen PEMFCs are the most commercially available and the focus of most suppliers; their disadvantage is the volumetric energy density of hydrogen. For ocean-going vessels, liquid hydrogen requires much more storage space, while achieving and maintaining the required -253oC is complex and energy-intensive. Nevertheless, the marine PEMFC markets are growing rapidly, especially in the inland and coastal sectors.
SOFCs solve many of these pain points. They are fuel flexible and can operate with ammonia, hydrogen, LNG, LPG, methanol, ethanol and more with efficiencies above 80 percent with combined heat and power (CHP) processes. This is a significant increase over typical PEMFC and marine diesel efficiencies of 55 and 45 percent, respectively.
“The benefits of ammonia and ammonia-fed SOFC+CHP are naturally generating industry excitement,” adds Gear. “Indeed, the first SOFC ammonia ship in the world is planned for operation in 2023 – an offshore supply ship called Viking Energy, which will be retrofitted with a 2MV SOFC system from Alma Clean Power. The green ammonia will be supplied by Iara, enabling up to 70 percent of electricity demand to become zero emission.
There are several challenges SOFC still has to overcome, including long start-up times and poor dynamic response. However, these problems are considered manageable in the marine environment when used in conjunction with a battery system. The main drawbacks are infrastructure and supply chain issues. Currently, megawatt SOFCs and green ammonia are not readily available.
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