France’s first hydrogen-powered river vessel, launched by the Sogestran Group, sailed down the Seine in Paris yesterday (December 3).
The 55-metre ZULU 06 has a cargo capacity of 400 tonnes and has been purpose-built to take on urban logistics. LMG Marin designed the vessel, encompassing two 200kW hydrogen fuel cells delivered by Ballard and a power generation system supplied by ABB Marine & Ports.
ZULU 06, which uses 300kg of compressed hydrogen to power seven days of operation, was developed through the EU-funded FLAGSHIPS project.
In the future, the vessel is expected to operate commercially in the heart of Paris, according to Valérie Bouillon-Delporte, Executive Director of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership.
“Building on the momentum of the FLAGSHIPS project, further applications in river and maritime transport will enhance air quality, reduce noise pollution, and drastically shrink the carbon footprint of waterborne transportation,” she explained.
Jyrki Mikkola, Flagships Project Coordinator and Senior Scientist at VTT, added, “Years of effort have brought us to this incredible milestone. The deployment of ZULU 06 as the first hydrogen-powered vessel on the Seine is a breakthrough in sustainable logistics.”
Ada Jakobsen, CEO of Maritime CleanTech, also claimed that inland waterways are the “veins and arteries of Europe’s green freight system.” The CEO continued, “Sogestran’s hydrogen-powered vessel in Paris demonstrates the power of bold EU partnerships and cutting-edge technology to tackle the challenges of decarbonization.”
France’s Minister of Transport, François Durovray, also praised the initiative, labelling it as a “major breakthrough for river transport and the energy transition in France.”
Hydrogen for inland water vessels
When Future Proof Shipping (FPS) and global clothing company Nike launched their first hydrogen-powered inland container ship together in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, last year, heads in the industry turned to the potential of using hydrogen to decarbonise inland waterways.
Inland waterway transport is considered to be among one of the most carbon dioxide (CO2)-efficient transport modes per tonnes of goods carried, reported to use only 17% of the energy needed by road transport and 50% of rail transport1.
However, conventional waterway vessels contribute to CO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions. It’s estimated that an inland waterway vessel will emit 250 grams of CO2 per tonne-kilometre (g/tkm) of cargo transport.
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