Vard Group has joined the NAVHYS project, an innovation project lead by ArianeGroup, along with 11 partner companies, to develop innovative solutions for a liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage and fuel system.
The system will be integrated in a SOV ship designed by Vard for North Star and will obtain an approval in principle (AiP) from Bureau Veritas. The project is supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and its members and co-funded by the European Union.
Henrik Burvang, project leader Vard and Research and Innovation manager, said: “With this project we underline our commitment to be a leader in maritime decarbonisation and demonstrate how we work closely with our customers and business partners to achieving common development goals. We look forward to taking on this exciting ship design challenge.”
NAVHYS’ goal is to provide a concept for a below-deck LH2 storage and fuel system for an SOV to propose a fully decarbonised maintenance solution for wind energy providers. A major challenge is that integrating this technology will require major adaptations on board ships, as well as to port and maritime infrastructures.
The project brings together expertise from a wide range of fields, including the space industry, shipbuilding, ship operations and energy and safety, and seeks to drive forward shipping decarbonisation. Over the next 36 months, a series of milestones will be set to successfully develop and test the system.
NAVHYS is focused on providing a concept that will reduce the environmental footprint and improve the energy efficiency of a hydrogen fuel system. The selection of NAVHYS as an active project, backed by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership channelling Europe’s hydrogen strategy through optimising research and innovation activities and co-funded by the European Union, is evidence that LH2 is a clear candidate for decarbonising the shipping sector.
The project’s name takes its inspiration from the Latin words ‘navis’ (ship) and ‘vis’ (force/power), put together with the first letters of hydrogen (‘hy’) – NAVHYS conveys ‘the power of hydrogen for shipping’.
Marie-Sophie Nizou, Project Manager ArianeGroup and coordinator of NAVHYS said: “Current projects near the coast currently rely on gaseous hydrogen. For longer distances, liquid hydrogen makes more sense due to its energy density. However, the high requirements for cooling and insulating the cryogenic system are problematic here. Our experience with Ariane 6 is helping us to tackle these problems.”
The partners in the project are: ArianeGroup, with expertise in handling, management and safekeeping of LH2 for space applications; offshore shipping company North Star; Vard Design; French gas company Engie; Ineris, contributing to risk prevention; Swedish research institute Rise; classification society Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore; Spanish technological centre Leitat; University of Birmingham; Belgian gas and energy research institute Erig; Gas and Heat of Italy; French consultancy Benkei; and the Maritime Cluster of Northern Germany.
Image: A Vard Design SOV will provide the basis for the NAVHYS project (source: Vard Group)
