- Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Bloom Energy have announced an agreement to develop cleaner power for ships by jointly designing fuel cell-powered vessels that will reduce carbon emissions and help improve air quality.
- The plan is to initially develop eco-friendly vessels that carry liquefied natural gas and will be among the first in the industry.
- They will replace all existing main engines and generator engines with solid oxide fuel cells over the next several years, investing millions of dollars in the technology.
- The companies said a design will be ready to showcase by 2022 that customers could order.
The Bloomberg in a recently reported article written by Dimitra Kessenides and Kyunghee Park highlights the agreement signed by two companies for a cleaner energy for ships.
Global greenhouse emissions
Global greenhouse emissions attributed to maritime operations surpass 2% — greater than those from some large economies.
Moreover, said Bloom founder and Chief Executive Officer K.R. Sridhar, “Covid has clearly shown very starkly that, while we have been focused strongly on the [carbon-dioxide] in the atmosphere, in reality the air polluting emissions which cause tremendous harm to our health — our lungs — are particulates: sox [sulfur oxides] and nox [nitrogen oxides] and so on. It’s one of those ignored stories.”
Fuel cells create electricity through an electrochemical reaction without burning fuel; the process means a reduction in particulate emissions of more than 99%, said Sridhar.
The cells will help Samsung meet and comply with the International Maritime Organization’s goal to cut CO2 emissions 40% by 2030 and 50% by 2050.
“With the IMO 2030 regulations coming up, we felt the need to take steps to be to become the leader of providing eco-friendly solutions to customers,” Hakei Jang, vice president of shipbuilding and drilling sales engineering at Samsung Heavy Industries said.
Design will be ready by 2022
The companies said a design will be ready to showcase by 2022 that customers could order. It will take two to three years to build, in line with the industry standard in maritime for building a ship, according to Sridhar.
The companies anticipate that the market for Bloom’s servers on Samsung Heavy ships could grow to 300 megawatts annually, three years after the vessel is produced, Bloom estimates.
Bloom’s proven technology
“Bloom’s technology has already been proven on land projects, which was an important factor in deciding to work with Bloom,” Jang said.
The technology that it uses [is] compact in size but very efficient, which Samsung sees as highly adaptable for ships.
A cross functional team
Bloom now has a dedicated, cross-functional team of engineers working on the maritime project.
Shipping companies such as A.P. Moeller-Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. in recent years have invested in scrubbers, which use water to help reduce sulfur emissions on vessels in order to comply with IMO regulations. Jang foresees demand for the promise of cleaner, more sustainable technology.
Dual-fuel engines currently being installed in ships can’t meet the CO2 emissions regulations, Jang said. And, he added, “If they don’t invest in these eco-friendly ships, shipping companies may not get jobs with the oil majors” — a powerful incentive.
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Source: Bloomberg
