Two hydrogen ships receive NOK 142 million in Enova support
The company Halten Bulk AS receives NOK 142 million in support from Enova for the construction of two hydrogen ships designed by cluster member The Norwegian Ship Design Company. The vessels will operate along the entire Norwegian coast and will bunker hydrogen from the five new production facilities supported by Enova.
The vessels will be among the first of their kind to demonstrate hydrogen solutions. The vessels will be central to demonstrating the solutions and lowering the risk for those who come after. The technologies for energy efficiency are also innovative, and the use of wind is important for reducing the need for added energy and increasing the competitiveness of emission-free energy carriers. These are solutions that enable emission-free sea transport, and which are therefore important on the road to a low-emission society, says Nils Kristian Nakstad in Enova.
With hydrogen as fuel
The two ships will both run on hydrogen as fuel. But to reduce investment costs, Halten Bulk plans to start with a hydrogen combustion engine and install fuel cells in addition later.
We start with a combination of 70% hydrogen and 30% marine gas oil. The more available bunkering stations that come, the greater proportion of hydrogen we will use. Then hydrogen will also become more competitive on price, says Ivar Christian Ulvan, manager of Halten Bulk AS.
The ships will form part of a fleet that has operations beyond the Norwegian coast, and is therefore dependent on using marine gas oil until hydrogen becomes commercially available in several places in Europe.
Without an instrument apparatus that works purposefully as Enova demonstrates in this project, the development of tomorrow's hydrogen tonnage would have been utopia, says Ulvan.
"Sister Effect"
Halten Bulk was established in 2004 in Trondheim and operates seven short-sea bulk vessels. The company is owned by Brødrene Nordbø AS, Ulvan and Strand Shipping AS. Egil Ulvan Rederi AS, which earlier this year launched the world's first zero-emission cargo ship With Orca, has joint management with the bulk vessels in Halten Bulk AS. The "sister effect" between the companies means that expertise and experience can be shared in the various companies.
We will use the same design company as on With Orca, namely Norwegian Ship Design. They will use experiences from With Orca as well as their knowledge of hull design and new technology to optimize the new vessels. This sister effect reduces costs by around 10 per cent, says Ulvan.
