Aussie compressed ‘zero carbon’ hydrogen transport ship unveiled

Australian marine transportation company Global Energy Ventures has unveiled a new compressed hydrogen ship design which it claims will be able to store up to 2,000 tonnes of compressed hydrogen for marine transport.

Global Energy Ventures (GEV) unveiled on Wednesday its new compressed hydrogen ship design, H2 Ship, which will have a storage capacity of up to 2,000 tonnes (23 million m3) of compressed hydrogen.

The design and plans for the ship’s construction and use are being billed as fitting seamlessly into Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which includes the establishment of ‘Hydrogen Hubs’ for production and export to the country’s major energy trading partners throughout the Asia Pacific region.

According to the 2019 National Hydrogen Strategy, “Australia is well-placed to make hydrogen its next big export. We have all the natural resources needed to produce it, a track record in building large-scale energy industries and a reputation as a proven partner to Asia’s biggest energy importers.”

That’s where H2 Ship comes into the picture. Hydrogen, and hopefully green hydrogen – which is hydrogen produced using renewable electricity – needs to be transported from its source of production to where it will be used.

With hydrogen, and specifically green hydrogen seeing a rise in interest and popularity as a potential new green fuel, numerous governments and commercial interests around the world are beginning to investigate and develop green hydrogen projects.

Global Energy Ventures – which describes itself as a builder, owner, and operator of compressed natural gas (CNG) projects – has several patents pending for the design of its H2 Ship, and will now move to develop the technical specifications, including the cargo containment system, in accordance with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) rules and Guidelines.

Already with two successful ABS approvals under its belt, GEV now hopes to achieve Approval In Principle (AIP) from the ABS sometime in the first half of 2021.

The H2 Ship design includes an “innovative cargo system” which is intended to include ambient temperature hydrogen at a target pressure of 3,600 psi (or 250 bar).

“Today we are excited to announce the Company’s hydrogen strategy to develop a new class of ship for the marine transportation of hydrogen,” said Maurice Brand, GEV’s Executive Chairman & CEO.

“GEV sees Australia as the global leader for establishing a national hydrogen strategy and industry with major funding programs in place. Australia has also established future hydrogen export agreements with regional customers in Japan, Korea, Singapore, and most recently Germany.”

“Over the course of 2020, the Company has been closely monitoring the growing support for hydrogen as a clean energy source,” added Martin Carolan, Executive Director Corporate & Finance.

“In our view, the application of GEV’s compressed hydrogen vessel will be very competitive against other marine transport options, particularly to Australia’s regional Asia Pacific customers.”