Hydrogen-powered shipping project wins multi-million pound funding

A consortium led by zero-emission vessel provider ACUA Ocean in partnership with zero-emission infrastructure provider Unitrove has won a multi-million pound UK government grant in a major push to decarbonise the maritime sector.

The Hydrogen Innovation – Future Infrastructure & Vessel Evaluation and Demonstration (HI-FIVED) consortium will receive over £3.8m of funding to build and showcase its innovative autonomous vessel and bunkering infrastructure technologies for liquid hydrogen.

The £5.4m project is expected to be delivered in autumn of 2024 and aims 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.

The HI-FIVED consortium involves several key players in the maritime industry including the Port of Aberdeen, the University of Southampton, Zero Emissions Maritime Technology, Composite Manufacturing and Design, Trident Marine Electrical, and NASH Maritime.

Unitrove, which created the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility, will look to deploy 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), announced in September 2022, which is funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

“Delivering successful technology demonstrations is critical to de-risking future investment in maritime decarbonisation,” say Michael Tinmouth, COO of ACUA Ocean. “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, comments: “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.”

ACUA Ocean and Unitrove have previously been successful in bidding for money from CMDC2 to explore the development of an innovative Zero-Emission Multi-Fuel Station (ZEMFS) that would power hydrogen and electric ships.

Earlier this month (February 2023), the UK government announced it had ring fenced £77m to fund the development of zero-emission ferries, cruises and cargo ships in UK waters over the next two years.