C-Job, LH2 Europe present new liquid hydrogen tanker design

C-Job Naval Architects LH2 Europe have developed the ship design for a new liquid hydrogen tanker to revolutionise the renewable energy market in Europe.

C-Job says it has designed a brand new class of liquid hydrogen tanker in partnership with LH2 Europe. The design is a critical element in realising a green end-to-end liquid hydrogen supply chain.

LH2 Europe will use Scotland’s renewable electricity to produce green H2 and market it at a competitive price with diesel. The new tanker will transport the liquid hydrogen to terminals in Germany. In addition, the vision is to expand supply to other markets as demand increases.

The parties developed an initial design for a liquid hydrogen tanker of 141 metres.

The vessel is powered by hydrogen fuel cells. It will feature three liquid hydrogen storage tanks with total capacity of 37,500 cubic metres. The tanks will have a much lower boil-off than those currently in the maritime industry. The limited remaining boil off will be directly used in H2 fuel cells, providing power to the vessel’s propulsion systems, resulting in emissions of water only.  Thus, the vessel itself will have zero greenhouse gas emissions during operations.

“Hydrogen will be essential to the future of energy.  It is up to us how quickly we can make that happen. LH2 Europe aims to have a full liquid hydrogen supply chain ready by 2027,” says Peter Wells, CEO of LH2 Europe. “We plan to initially deliver 100 tons per day of green H2 and ramp up production to 300 t/d within three years.”

“This tanker design is a key step in providing the infrastructure to make that clean energy future a reality.  Current vessels in operation are not able to deliver hydrogen at the scale we expect will be required to meet the needs of the market,” he added.

Job Volwater, CCO at C-Job, says: “LH2 provides unique challenges in ship design and engineering. As a comparison, LNG tankers use ballast water to compensate the loss of weight following delivery to ensure enough draft. As liquid hydrogen is high in volume but 20 times lighter than LNG, this required a unique solution. We have created a trapezium-shaped hull design which creates enough deck space to fit the tanks without the need for ballast.”

The ship is to be ready and commissioned six months before the first delivery of hydrogen in 2027.