Dutch-Swiss duo sets sights on advancing marine hydrogen fuel cell solutions

Dutch maritime engineering company NIM and Swiss high-tech firm EH Group have joined forces to advance the development and standardization of hydrogen fuel cell drive trains tailored for the maritime industry.

The companies have formalized their partnership through a memorandum of understanding (MoU), aiming to jointly explore and implement hydrogen-based drive trains for the maritime industry.

The partners plan to focus on adapting and standardizing fuel cell systems to meet the unique operational and safety requirements of maritime vessels by combining EH Group’s fuel cell technology with NIM’s expertise in marine system integration.

The companies noted that this partnership highlights their shared commitment to environmental sustainability and their dedication to pioneering solutions that contribute to global decarbonization goals in line with increasing demand within the maritime industry for green alternatives to traditional propulsion systems.

“With this partnership, we found a solid basis for the next step in sustainable energy transition in shipping. Combining EH Group’s EH-Trace hydrogen fuel cell system and NIM’s knowledge of system integration, we are ready to speed-up the change in power management applications on board of vessels,” said Marc Freriks, NIM CSO.

“The maritime sector is ripe for disruptive decarbonisation, which can only be met by joining strong technology solutions with deep sector experience and integration capabilities. Partnering with NIM enables us to more effectively deploy marine FC systems across a wide-range of vessels,” commented Mardit Matian, EH Group Founder.

In early 2024, the Swiss technology company received approval in principle (AiP) from classification society DNV for its TRACE-M250 fuel cell system designed for high-power and maritime applications.