H2SHIPS Project Launch

The EU-funded project H2SHIPS aims to demonstrate operations of a passenger vessel on hydrogen in Amsterdam and develop technical solutions for bunkering hydrogen to ships at sea. The ocean industries are following the project closely.

H2SHIPS will develop the hydrogen bunkering solution in Oostende in close collaboration with experts from the industry and research and development (R&D) players. GCE Ocean Technology is connected to the project through our cluster collaborator Hub for Ocean which is associated partner in H2SHIPS and the only Norwegian participant.

Leading Players

The partners in H2SHIPS are among the leading actors in Europe in the field of hydrogen including the European Institute for Energy Research, the Port of Amsterdam and Delft University of Technology and Hydrogen Europe.
Participation in the project gives access to a large network. Our Ocean Technology Innovator Trond Strømgren gave a presentation about maritime hydrogen projects in Norway for the 70 participants at the launch 27 August. The TechnipFMC’s Deep Purple project for subsea storage of hydrogen awoke a great deal of interest.

Amsterdam as a Hydrogen Hub

Amsterdam Port aims to becoming the leading hydrogen hub in Europe for supplying hydrogen to various sectors. Hydrogen will be produced from offshore wind energy and wind turbines in the port area, as well as large-scale import of liquid hydrogen. From Amsterdam, the hydrogen will be distributed throughout Europe to be used in transport, heating and industry.

Offshore Wind and Hydrogen

One part of the project concept is to develop methods and technology for bunkering hydrogen at sea. This is viewed as an upcoming need, partially linked to Amsterdam as a hydrogen hub and future bunkering of larger ships in the sea outside of the port area. The ocean industries experience increased focus on offshore wind, including a number of projects with hydrogen production and storage at sea. The methodology for bunkering at sea will be of interest to several players related to the fact that ships in the future will bunker hydrogen at floating wind farms, both as fuel and for distribution.