ELIRE Maritime Consortium Validates Grid-Independent Hydrogen Shore Power Hub

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday May 25, 2026

UK-based ELIRE Maritime and partners have validated a floating hydrogen power hub designed to provide shore power to vessels without relying on port grid infrastructure.

The project was carried out under the UKRI-funded Clean Maritime Demonstrator Competition Round 6 (CMDC6) programme, the company said in an email statement on Monday.

The consortium validated a modular floating system designed to supply up to 5 MW of clean power to ships at berth using hydrogen, batteries, fuel cells and onboard renewable generation.

The platform is designed to support both 6.6 kV and 11 kV shore power connections for large vessels.

Shore power allows vessels to switch off auxiliary engines while berthed by plugging into an external electricity supply, helping cut emissions and noise in ports.

The ELIRE Maritime project aims to overcome grid constraints by supplying shore power through a floating hydrogen-based system rather than relying on shore-side infrastructure.

According to the consortium, the system could reduce vessel emissions at berth by about 77% compared with conventional onboard diesel generation.

Consortium partners included Ricardo UK, Schneider Electric, Rux Energy UK, Triton Anchor Europe, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC), the University of Strathclyde and Sealand Projects.