Marine engineering and equipment development company TECO 2030 and engineering firm AVL List have announced plans to develop a hydrogen fuel cell system specifically designed for heavy-duty marine applications.

The companies have been working to develop the TECO Marine Fuel Cell, with the aim to market the first proton-exchange membrane fuel cell system specifically designed for marine applications. The three-year ambitious project has already received a letter of intent.

The news to develop the fuel cell follows the work TECO 2030 and AVL have been doing to develop the TECO Future Funnel, a next generation scrubber that reduces emissions from combustion engines. The ultimate goal for this scrubber is zero emissions.

“There is simply no better partner for us as we aim to solve one of the major environmental challenges of our time: Keeping in mind that marine transport is expected to triple from 2015 to 2050, we still need to reduce carbon and other emissions from the shipping industry,” said Tore Enger, CEO of TECO.

“This is the perfect one-two punch. In the short term, we need to clean up the emissions from the current fleet. In the longer term, hydrogen is the obvious answer. After having proven their usefulness in larger land vehicles, fuel cells will in the coming years play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the marine industries.”

Source: https://vpoglobal.com/2020/09/18/teco-to-boost-shippings-decarbonisation-with-marine-hydrogen-fuel-cell/