Piloting ammonia fuel cell for zero emissions

The aim of the ShipFC project is to pilot an ammonia-driven fuel cell system on Eidesvik Offshore’s supply vessel Viking Energy . Testing will take place while the vessel is on contract for Equinor.

The project will see the offshore vessel, Viking Energy, which is owned and operated by Eidesvik and on contract to energy major Equinor, have a large 2MW ammonia fuel cell retrofitted, allowing it to sail solely on the clean fuel for up to 3,000 hours annually. Ammonia is an abundant energy source and can easily be made from renewable resources making it one of the fuels that will likely meet part of shipping’s future energy demand.

In the shipping industry, hydrogen and ammonia are considered the two main zero emission fuel candidates for future shipping. Today, many believe that ammonia represents the best option for longer voyages, such as the North Sea supply routes, where ships need to carry large amounts of fuel.

Five-year project
The other main partners in the five-year research project are Wärtsilä, supplying the power technology and systems for ammonia storage and distribution, Prototech, supplying the fuel cell system, and NCE Maritime CleanTech, coordinating the project towards the European Union.

Eidesvik and Wärtsilä have had a particularly close industrial collaboration for a number of years. Wärtsilä has provided technology solutions throughout Eidesvik’s development stages, from LNG in 2003, via fuel cell and hybrid solutions, and up to today’s focus on ammonia.

The ammonia research on Viking Energy has a total budget of 230 MNOK, of which a significant part is financed with EU funding. The project has also received support from Innovation Norway.

As part of the testing, the vessel will use ammonia in transit between harbour and offshore installations for one year. In addition, Eidesvik envisage that ammonia will be used to power the vessel when alongside quay. The company’s ambition is that 60 to 70 percent of the energy consumption will come from ammonia during the test period. In addition, the partners want to demonstrate that the technology can supply up to 90 per cent of the total power demand.

Important contribution from Equinor
Shipowner Eidesvik has always had a clear vision of burning as little fossil fuel as possible and has been a pioneer in implementing new environmental technologies in both newbuilds and existing fleet. With its current focus on ammonia, the company is a front-runner for zero emissions, and having Viking Energy as test vessel was a natural choice. Not only was she the world’s first supply vessel powered by LNG when delivered in 2003. In 2016, the North Sea workhorse also became the world’s first hybrid supply vessel with class notation “Battery Power” from DNV.

Equinor has made a major contribution to these milestones by contracting Viking Energy for a total of 23 years. The fact that the company chose Eidesvik and Viking Energy as shipping partner and test vessel in this project, says a lot about the cooperation the two companies have had all these years.