Freight transport on inland waterways must be cleaner. That's the outline of an EU-backed project that aims to launch green hydrogen-powered container ships for the key freight route between the Netherlands and Germany.
Future Proof Shipping's first container barge powered by green hydrogen was launched last year. A 110m by 11.45m barge whose internal combustion engine has been replaced by electric motors, hydrogen tanks, a fuel cell system and batteries. The H2 Barge 1 began sailing between the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and a BCTN inland terminal in Meerhout, Belgium, in June 2023.
Retrofit project
The H2 Barge 2 project is another retrofit project carried out at the Holland Shipyard Group yard in Werkendam. Again, the diesel engines and fuel tanks were replaced with a green hydrogen-powered propulsion system. This time with six 200 kW fuel cells making 1.2 MW of power available to the engines.
Inland waterways are important for freight transport in Europe. It is positive that high-horsepower container ships are being converted to zero-emission vessels. The 'conversion' of the H2 Barge 2 will gather knowledge on how to convert ships from diesel combustion to emission-free alternatives. The main 'basic ingredients' for this are batteries combined with green hydrogen in a fuel cell."
The new demonstration ship has a capacity for 190 6-metre sea containers. The ship will carry goods on the important Rhine freight route between Rotterdam and Duisburg. The switch from diesel to hydrogen will reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 3,000 tonnes.
A second hydrogen-powered Flagships demonstration, the Zulu 06, is expected to be launched in Paris later this year. Future Proof Shipping aims to build and operate a total of 10 zero-emission inland and coastal vessels over the next five years.
