Americas News
Study: Fuel Cells Could Replace Grid-based Cold Ironing
Hydrogen fuel cells may be a viable option for providing power to ships at berth and replacing onboard diesel generators, according to a study conducted by the Sandia National Laboratories in the U.S.
The report considered the strategy of using a floating barge to carry one or two hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and store hydrogen, which requires between one and four forty-foot containers depending on the ship's size and energy requirements.
Fuel cells could represent an alternative to grid-based cold-ironing, in which ships get their energy needs from the local electrical system while at port.
Grid systems were said to cost $5 to $10 million per berth.
Another benefit of the hydrogen cells is that they can be more environmentally friendly than electricity, which, depending on the source, may not result in a major reduction of emissions compared with ship generators.
California ports are already building cold-ironing systems to comply with state regulations, but the study found that ports in other areas, including Oregon and Washington, could benefit from hydrogen cell systems.
In Hawaii, there is also the potential to use the fuel cells for refrigerated units (reefers) being carried on barges for distribution to various islands.
"You can replace the diesel generator with a hydrogen fuel cell without changing the operations," said researcher Joe Pratt.
"It's just a power source in a box, a shipping container in this case."
The study found that, given a cost of $4 to $5 per kilogram, hydrogen used in a fuel cell can save money compared with maritime fuels in a generator, depending on the situation.
"Fuel cost is only part of the total economic picture, but discovering that the cost-effective hydrogen price matches that which is expected to be available is an important finding," Pratt said.
