Southampton-backed hydrogen shipping consortium wins more than £3.8m government funding

The Hydrogen Innovation – Future Infrastructure & Vessel Evaluation and Demonstration (HI-FIVED) consortium is led by ACUA Ocean, a zero-emission vessel provider, in partnership with zero-emission infrastructure provider Unitrove.

The project is backed by a number of major players in the maritime industry including the University of Southampton, Southampton-based companies Composite Manufacturing and Design and NASH Maritime, the Port of Aberdeen, Zero Emissions Maritime Technology, and Trident Marine Electrical.

Expected to be delivered in autumn of 2024, the £5.4 million project is looking to establish a domestic green shipping corridor between Aberdeen and the Orkney and Shetland Islands, with hydrogen-powered autonomous ships being used to transport cargo.

It will use the £3.8 million government grant to manufacture and showcase its autonomous vessel and bunkering infrastructure technologies for liquid hydrogen.

Unitrove, which has created the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility, is looking to install its mobile fuelling technology at the Port of Aberdeen in support of ACUA Ocean’s bid to build and operate the world’s first maritime autonomous surface ship powered by liquid hydrogen.

The project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 3 (CMDC3), which was announced in September 2022, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

As part of the CMDC3, the Department allocated £60m to 19 flagship projects supported by 92 UK organisations to deliver demonstration R&D projects in clean maritime solutions. Projects will take place in multiple locations around the UK from as far north as the Shetland Isles and as far south as Cornwall.

The CMDC3 is part of the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions’ (UK SHORE) CMDC programme. In March 2022, the Department announced the biggest government investment ever in the UK commercial maritime sector, allocating £206m to UK SHORE, a new division within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector.

UK SHORE is delivering a suite of interventions throughout 2022–2025 aimed at accelerating the design, manufacture and operation of UK-made clean maritime technologies and unlocking an industry-led transition to Net Zero.

Michael Tinmouth, COO of ACUA Ocean, said:

“Delivering successful technology demonstrations is critical to de-risking future investment in maritime decarbonisation. This CMDC3 project brings together a consortium of innovative partners, subcontractors, and suppliers from across the maritime sector, who are all laser-focused on the need to reduce emissions and accelerate the adoption and commercialisation of new technologies.”

Steven Lua, CEO of Unitrove, said:

“We are absolutely thrilled to receive UK government support to enable real-world demonstration of the world’s first liquid hydrogen autonomous vessel and infrastructure. Having built such a strong consortium of eight fantastic partners across the supply-chain, we can have great confidence that we will deliver something truly remarkable.”

Warwick Buckley, Managing Director of Composite Manufacturing and Design, said:

“It is very exciting to be involved with this very innovative and green project and to be part of the team to help realise zero emissions in the maritime sector.”

Dr Timothy Wilkes, Innovation Lead of NASH Maritime, said:

“NASH Maritime are thrilled to be part of this consortium, using our maritime risk expertise to pioneer approaches to safety-case development and risk management for alternative fuels and unmanned systems, in a real-world context.

“The Marine Safety Management System we will develop will fill the gap that currently exists between vessel operator, port authority and regulator. This fits perfectly with our vision for a sustainable and accident-free marine environment.”

Mark Harper, Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom, said:

“Our maritime sector imports 95% of goods into the UK and contributes £116 billion to our economy – more than both aviation and rail combined.

“With growing the economy one of the government’s top priorities, we must continue our efforts to ensure the UK remains a pioneer in cutting-edge clean maritime solutions. This funding will help to do just that, bringing emission-free concepts to life and fuelling innovation.”

Source: The Business Magazine