Credit: Freeport East
Tax-friendly region spanning Felixstowe and Harwich on the east coast of England secures almost £3m funding to help develop its green hydrogen maritime vision
Plans to pilot the use of green hydrogen technologies to help decarbonise shipping activities in the ports of Harwich and Felixstowe on the east coast of England have secured a multi-million-pound boost announced yesterday from both the UK and Australian governments.
Freeport East - a tax-friendly zone spanning parts of both the Essex and Suffolk coast which was established by the government to help attract private sector investment - yesterday revealed it has been awarded a £1.44m grant from Innovate UK, as well as an undisclosed "similar sum" from Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
The funding has been granted in support of Freeport East's Hydrogen Zero Emission Maritime (HyZEM) project, which it said aims to drive decarbonisation in the maritime sector through the development of low carbon green hydrogen technology for high powered workboats.
In addition, HyZEM aims to demonstrate practical applications for green hydrogen storage and propulsion on vessels, including bunkering technology, port storage, refuelling infrastructure as well as how it will support local supply chains, according to the founding members of Freeport East, which include Essex Country Council and Suffolk Country Council.
The HyZEM partnership was facilitated by Freeport East and includes leading UK and Australian businesses specialising in green hydrogen storage and propulsion technologies, they said.
It aims to help advance the use of green hydrogen for use in the global maritime industry, and counts the likes of zero emissions product firm Steamology, the UK's National Composites Centre (NCC), powertrain developer Duodrive Limited, maritime consultancy Chartwell Marine Limited, and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult as members. An Australian sister project, meanwhile, is being led by hydrogen specialist Rux Energy Australia.
The international collaboration aims to accelerate the development and adaptation of new climate-friendly, zero-emission technologies such as green hydrogen in the maritime sector, across both the UK and Australia.
Through the project, Freeport East and ORE Catapult said they would aim to further support regional innovation, as well as building collaborations between small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), global industry, and academia in renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the National Composites Centre (NCC) and Rux Energy's Australian consortium said they would together lead the development of next generation hydrogen storage systems, dovetailing Rux's breakthroughs in advanced nanoporous materials with innovations in carbon composite tanks, and thereby delivering step changes in efficiency, safety and costs for high powered work boats like tugboats and crew-transfer vessels.
"This news highlights the rapid innovation-driven growth occurring within the Freeport and marks the third consortium funding success Freeport East has achieved in the past year," said Steve Beel, chief executive of Freeport East.
"Freeport East is demonstrating how we can be an enabler of green technology solutions and support UK businesses to succeed overseas. These innovations will also support our broader efforts to drive transport decarbonisation at both the local and international scale," he added.
Matt Candy, chief executive of Steamology, said the company was "pleased to be working with such talented partners across the hydrogen and marine supply chain and thank Innovate UK for grant funding the opportunity".
"Steamology delivers scalable and modular solutions for industrial steam heat and power, embracing the hydrogen and circular economies, eliminating emissions, replacing fossil fuels and fossil fuel engines," he added. "Steamology is delivering the world's first zero emission hydrogen steam turbine marine propulsion, 130 years after ‘Turbinia', the world's first steam turbine steam ship."
Joseph Hewitt, project engineer, development and operations, ORE Catapult, added that the company is "delighted to partner with Steamology and the extended HyZEM consortium team, contributing our independent expertise in offshore renewable energy and clean maritime technology to this important feasibility study."
"Demonstrating the potential of innovative technologies such as hydrogen-storage and hydrogen-fuelled turbines to decarbonise the world's marine fleet could pave the way for future cost savings and risk reduction benefits for the entire industry, minimising environmental impact and moving us closer to achieving our net zero ambitions," he added.
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