The Breton ZEPH2 consortium on the verge of mass production of a carbon-free service vessel – Hydrogen as marine fuel.
Winner of the “crossing of sectors” call for projects launched by the Brittany Region in June 2022, the ZEPH2 consortium made up of the companies Zéphyr and Borée (56), Piriou (29), Sofresid Engineering (44), Entech (29) and ComposiTIC (56), has just submitted its design study for the industrialization of an offshore maintenance vessel with a low carbon footprint.
The ship will be around 50% to 70% carbon-free compared to a ship with a diesel engine. The transition lies in the use of hydrogen to hybridize propulsion and fuel on-board consumption. This hybridization represents 30% of the boat’s power, according to its designers, the consortium of Breton companies made up of Zéphyr and Borée (shipowner and project leader), Piriou (naval architect and builder), Sofresid (engineering company), Entech (company specializing in energy conversion) and ComposiTIC (research institute).
The wind farm market
This consortium, called Zeph2, won a call for projects launched in June 2022 by the Brittany Region, and has just submitted its study for the design of a service vessel or CTV (for Crew Transfer Vessels) 28.10 long, which will connect land to offshore wind farms to transfer technicians and equipment for installation and maintenance purposes.
The CTV designed by the ZEPH2 project can save up to 670 tonnes of maritime CO2 equivalent per vessel per year. This new generation ship will be able to produce 800 KW using fuel cells running on gaseous H2 and store 350 kg of hydrogen under pressure, “ ie unrivaled power in the maritime field ”, underlines the consortium which has just submitted its study “ consisting of a technical and economic offer sufficiently accomplished to offer a carbon-free ship to operators of offshore wind farms . The target market for the ZEPH2 project is in fact that of the maintenance of wind farms, in France and Europe, with contracts lasting 5 to 10 years.
Hydrogen as a marine fuel
Details the press release:
“The technical implementation study made it possible to remove integration and safety constraints linked to the use of hydrogen on board the ship and to optimize the operation of the propulsion architecture as a whole. Other innovations such as the addition of supporting profiles (foils) and the use of composite materials have also been studied to improve the overall efficiency of the vessel and reduce hydrogen consumption. The proposed evolutionary design will make it possible to achieve 70% decarbonization of the ship’s operating phases depending on the distance from the wind farms and the envisaged operational profile ,”
Once contracted, the ZEPH2 project will enter the phase of detailed studies then construction, and finally the commissioning of a first vessel. No date has yet been set.
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The Breton ZEPH2 consortium on the verge of mass production of a carbon-free service vessel – Hydrogen as marine fuel. source
