EMEA News
Consortium Secures Funding for Development of Fuel Cell Tech for Marine Applications
PowerCell Sweden AB (PowerCell) has announced that, along with fellow members of the MARANDA consortium, it has been granted funding from the European Union (EU) for the development of a fuel cell system for marine applications, which will be based on the company's PowerCell S3.
The funding is said to consist of €3 million ($3.21 million), €982,000 ($1.051 million) of which is set to be received by PowerCell.
"We are enthusiastic to start this project together with the other partners of the consortium," said Per Ekdunge, CTO at PowerCell.
"A marine power solution free from noise and pollution is important for the environment and this solution opens many fields of applications."
The PowerCell S3, a 20-100 kW scalable prototype that is intended to use pure hydrogen as fuel, is said to offer a high potential for reduction of both energy consumption and emissions.
Utilising two PowerCell S3 fuel cell stack units, the MARANDA consortium intends to develop a "complete and competitive" fuel cell system.
"The system will provide power to the vessel's electrical equipment as well as for the dynamic positioning during measurements, free from vibration, noise and air pollution," explains PowerCell, noting that the system will be tested onboard Aranda, an arctic research vessel operated by the SYKE Marine Research Centre.
The project will run for 48 months and starts March 1, 2017, with the system set to be validated through the testing aboard Aranda over an 18-month period.
In November, Ship & Bunker reported that PowerCell and Swiss Hydrogen SA (Swiss Hydrogen) had partnered to install and develop a fuel cell system on a ship that will be powered by photovoltaics.
