EU gives €1m grant to fund on-board fuel cell project

18 December 2006 00:00  [Source: ICB]

The EU has approved a €1m ($1.3m) grant to a research consortium coordinated by Wartsila for the development of methanol-consuming fuel cells to power commercial ships.

The focus of the project, called Validation of a Renewable Methanol Based Auxiliary Power System for Commercial Vessels (METHAPU), is to develop and validate renewable-fuel-based technology on board a cargo vessel involved in international trade.

The other organisations involved in the €1.9m project are: Lloyd's Register, Wallenius Marine, the University of Genoa and Det Norske Veritas.

Wartsila will study the suitability of a methanol-based system on board the vessel.

Research will focus on a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) unit of 250kW-class, although for validation purposes a smaller 20kW unit will be installed on board a Wallenius Marine car carrier.

The components to be validated are methanol fuel bunkering, distribution and storage, and an SOFC system that consumes methanol.

The project, which will take two-and-a-half years, also aims to lay the technical groundwork for future regulations on using methanol as a marine fuel.

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