– We are investing in hydrogen as the best solution right now in combination with batteries, precisely in order to be able to traffic the world heritage fjords with cruise ships after 2026. That is what Rolf André Sandvik, day-to-day manager of the cruise company Northern Xplorer AS, says. In a press release, the owners write that they plan to build a series of 14 smaller hydrogen and battery-powered cruise ships. The first should be ready in 2025 or 2026. 2026 is the same year that all ships sailing in the five world heritage fjords must be zero-emission ships. The Storting adopted it four years ago. By 2026, all skis that sail in the world heritage fjords must be zero-emission. Then hydrogen can be a solution. Photo: Shutterstock The maritime cluster network Ocean Highway Cluster has looked at a hybrid ship with hydrogen in combination with conventional fuel as an opportunity to meet the new environmental requirement. – Such a hybrid ship is something we see as one of the solutions in the world heritage fjords, says engineer Kristina Storegjerde Skogen. What is hydrogen? Hydrogen: Today, it is mainly produced by splitting natural gas. It can also be produced using water electrolysis and renewable power sources. But it is not a given that hydrogen is environmentally friendly. Experience: Hydrogen has been used for industrial purposes for over a hundred years as a raw material in industry, agriculture or in the production of heat and electricity. A hydrogen car: Is in practice an electric car where the battery has been reduced and combined with a fuel cell and hydrogen tank. Hydrogen tank: The hydrogen tank is filled with hydrogen under pressure at a filling station. Fuel cell: Hydrogen from the tank and air meet in the fuel cell which produces electricity. The only emission from the process is water. Battery: During braking, the energy is stored in the battery as electricity. The battery can contribute extra power to the electric motor during rapid acceleration. Sources: Hydrogenbilnet.no, Unox.no, Hydrogen.no, Sintef. – Not a solution for a long time The Port Manager in Aurland, Tor Mikkel Tokvam, does not believe that hydrogen will be a solution for the large cruise ships already in 2026. The Port Manager in Flåm, Tor Mikkel Tokvam, does not believe that hydrogen technology is ready for the large cruise ships by 2026. Photo : Ole Andre Rekkedal / news – It is very good that they can get started with such demonstration projects. But for the industry otherwise, hydrogen is not a solution for a long time. Environmental requirements for the cruise industry Only Spain, Italy, Greece and France have greater emissions from cruise ships than Norway. According to a study by the European organization Transport & Environment (T & E), the emission of health-damaging sulfur dioxide from cruise traffic is five times higher than from all other ship traffic along the Norwegian coast. According to Vestlandsforsking, the disappearance of cruise ships in Vestland last year contributed to 60,000 tonnes less CO₂ being released. This corresponds to the annual emissions from 26,000 cars. In 2018, the Storting decided that cruise ships must be completely emission-free before they are allowed to sail in Norwegian world heritage fjords from 2026. In February 2019, 12 Norwegian cruise municipalities agreed on 14 environmental requirements for the Cruise Owners Act. From 1 March 2019, it has been a requirement in the world heritage fjords that ships must use fuel with a maximum sulfur content of 0.1 per cent. Hurtigruten’s Roald Amundsen was the first cruise ship that could sail all-electric, for 45–60 minutes. Since then, several other cruise ships have received battery packs, but there is still a long way to go before the fleet approaches the emissions target. Three main objectives are met in the new cruise regime: Cruise ships must meet new emission requirements. The cruise calls must be distributed better to avoid overcrowding. Norway must get passengers and shipping companies to add more money. When the pandemic stopped all cruise traffic to Norway, Norway had almost one million cruise tourists annually. They left close to NOK 3 billion. He points out that hydrogen is very energy-intensive to produce. According to him, it requires much more energy to produce hydrogen than the energy you get back. – Hydrogen can be part of the solution in the future, but there are several bottlenecks, he says. The cruise ship industry has previously been skeptical of the zero-emission requirement, and has said that it is unrealistic to achieve zero emissions in the world heritage fjords by 2026. The Norwegian Maritime Directorate has also pointed out that the technology will not be in place to reach the goal of zero emissions in four years. Before the new year, the directorate must produce a report assessing the consequences of the requirement. Sandvik in Northern Explorer understands that the cruise industry is skeptical of what is to come. – If we are discussing the large cruise ships that are on the market today, the technology is not here. Then completely different battery sizes and completely different amounts of hydrogen are needed. Poor infrastructure – The technology is not the problem, but better infrastructure is needed for it to be feasible, says Skogen in the Ocean Highway Cluster. She believes it may be possible to realize a hybrid ship with hydrogen and fossil fuel before 2026, if more effort is made. Engineer in the hydrogen cluster Ocean Highway Cluster, Kristina Storegjerde Skogen. Photo: Privat One of the challenges is that there is a lack of infrastructure for bunkering the ships, i.e. filling them with fuel. – There are no shipowners who want to build vessels on hydrogen without being sure that there is an infrastructure.
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Hybrid cruises on hydrogen can be the solution for zero emission requirements in the world heritage fjord – news Vestland
