Samskip Joins Fuel Cell Retrofit Project

Samskip has joined the EU HyEkoTank project and its LNG-fueled vessel Kvitnos will be retrofitted with TECO 2030’s zero-emission technology.

Samskip Kvitnos, built in 2015, is a cargo ship which operates in a fixed route on a weekly multipurpose service from Rotterdam, along the Norwegian west coast, to Hammerfest. The project also aims to facilitate long-term hydrogen fuel supply contracts due to the vessel’s fixed route.

The HyEkoTank project is the world’s largest ongoing fuel cell retrofit project, aiming to demonstrate zero-emission fuel cell and hydrogen technology.

Samskip, as a container ship operator, is facing increasingly stricter requirements to reduce GHG emissions through regulations such as FuelEU Maritime and EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Container ships are also required to operate with zero emissions at major EU ports from 2030, and will be subject to zero emissions requirements when sailing in Norwegian world heritage fjords.

Fuel cells and hydrogen provides the most energy-efficient and cost-efficient fuel solution for the Kvitnos vessel, because Kvitnos consumes much more energy than can be charged by shore-power, and hydrogen is the most energy-efficient and least expensive zero-emission fuel.

The vessel will be retrofitted in 2025 with fuel cells from TECO 2030 and hydrogen storage from Umoe Advanced Composites. This retrofit aims to make Kvitnos compliant to FuelEU Maritime and EU ETS regulations for the remainder of its expected lifetime.

“Almost all of the 2-3,000 new built ships each year are built with conventional fossil technologies, and the average ship lifetime is 25-30 years. To achieve the maritime sector GHG reduction targets retrofitting zero-emission technology on the existing fleet is essential. That is why the EkoTank project is so important,” says HyEkoTank’s project coordinator Leif-Gunnar Hanssen.

The HyEkoTank project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Innovation Actions program under grant agreement No. 101096981. The project partners are TECO 2030, BLOM Maritime, TECO Solutions, Shell International Trading and Shipping Company, Shell International Exploration and Production, Samskip, Nav-Tech, Umoe Advanced Composites, FKAB Marine Design, Tarbit Shipping and project coordinator The Arctic University of Norway.