HYON, Gen2 Energy and ASCO to establish hydrogen hub for maritime transport in Nordland

Norway’s hydrogen bunkering specialist HYON has together with compatriot green hydrogen company Gen2 Energy AS and supply base services provider ASCO Norway applied for soft funding from Enova for a hydrogen hub for maritime transport in Nordland to be named the Green Artic HyHub.

The hydrogen hub will include large-scale production of compressed hydrogen in Mosjøen and bunkering sites for maritime transport in Sandnessjøen and Mosjøen.

With the ambition to reduce emissions of the Norwegian maritime sector, HYON has partnered with Gen2 Energy and ASCO in a project to produce cost-competitive compressed green hydrogen at large scale, making it available to fuel several types of vessels in Nordland.

A bunkering network from Mosjøen and Sandnessjøen ports will be set up providing cost-competitive fueling of hydrogen to maritime customers or to swap containers onboard vessels.

“This project has the needed scale to deliver hydrogen at competitive prices in the maritime sector, and by that to accelerate the transition from fossil fuel to zero emission shipping,” Jørn Kristian Lindtvedt, CEO of HYON, said.

Sandnessjøen is seen as an optimal site for establishing a maritime hydrogen hub because of its strategic location, the number of port calls per year by a variety of vessel types and the available infrastructure for maritime transport.

G2E will establish a compressed hydrogen production plant at the industrial site of Nesbruket in Vefsn municipality to produce 15,250 metric tonnes/year (mt/y) green hydrogen and together with suppliers develop 20/40 feet containers that can hold hydrogen at 350 bars specially designed for fueling or swapping purposes within the maritime sector.

Fast fueling is key for maritime applications as the fuel tanks are large and the allowed time for bunkering is short. HYON is specialized in delivering fueling solutions for hydrogen to ships, providing the missing piece in the hydrogen value chain. HYON will develop a fueling solution for large vessels enabling them to refill fuel tanks with 1,000 kg hydrogen in 30 minutes, much faster than current solutions (<80 kg in 30 min) which only exist for onshore transport (i.e. trucks and vehicles).

ASCO provides a comprehensive package of supply base services to the energy industries and operates an established network of own bases (including Sandnessjøen) and joint ventures along the entire Norwegian coast. ASCO will lead the establishment of processes and infrastructure, including cranes, quays and warehouses, for safe storage and swapping of containers.

There is a strong desire to start utilizing the fueling stations for green hydrogen once in operation, proven by eight signed letters of intent from maritime users. In addition, several letters of intent have been signed related to onshore applications with different local and regional companies within transport and industry.

“The strong combination of maritime and onshore users of hydrogen will increase utilization of equipment, reduce cost for end-users and result in a high amount of produced hydrogen per supported capita received,” Jonas Meyer, CEO of Gen2 Energy, explained.

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