The European innovation project FLAGSHIPS has been awarded the Hydrogénies award for its innovative work within the field of hydrogen in the maritime sector.
The «Hydrogénies» trophy is awarded a project, company, an organization or community having developed an innovative solution in the field of hydrogen. The European project FLAGSHIPS is this year’s winner within the category “Maritime/Waterway Mobility Awards”.
The FLAGSHIPS project started in January 2019 and will support the deployment of two commercially operated zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell vessels in France and Norway. In Lyon, a hydrogen push-boat operated by Compagnie Fluvial de Transport (CFT) will serve as a utility vessel on one of its most demanding rivers, the Rhône. In Stavanger, hydrogen is intended to power a passenger and car ferry operated by Norled as part of the local public transport network. Both vessels will run on compressed hydrogen produced on-site with electrolyzers powered by renewable electricity.
Director of CFT inland transportation, Matthieu Blanc said: “Both the EU and the shipping industry see hydrogen as a key contributor in the work to mitigate climate change. This award a recognition of FLAGSHIPS’ important role in raising the readiness of hydrogen-powered waterborne transport to a new level globally”.
FLAGSHIPS officially received the price on January 29th, 2020 in Bordeaux during the 21st European Energy Transition Conference. The competition is organized in partnership with the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), the French Association of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (Afhypac) and the region of Bordeaux.
Participating companies in the FLAGSHIPS project include nine European partners, with two ship owners Norled (NO) and CFT (FR), the maritime OEM ABB, supplier of power and automation solutions Westcon Power & Automation (NO) and naval architect company LMG Marin (NO & FR). World-leading fuel cell technology is provided by Ballard Europe (DK) and vessel energy monitoring and management by PersEE (FR). Management, dissemination activities and maritime hydrogen safety expertise are provided by VTT (FI) and industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech (NO).
The FLAGHSIPS project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 826215. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe research.
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