Two Norwegian players to explore the use of hydrogen as ‘fuel for the future’ in maritime sector

Embarking on a journey to bring zero-emissions solutions to the fore, Norway’s vessel owner and operator Golden Energy Offshore Services has teamed up with Gen2 Energy, a compatriot hydrogen company, to explore the use and availability of hydrogen-based fuel in the maritime industry.

The two companies have inked a letter of intent (LOI) to mutually exchange experience and information regarding the use of possible hydrogen-based fuel for various types of vessels in Golden Energy Offshore’s fleet along with the identification of suitable locations for the availability of the alternative hydrogen-based fuel types.

Per Ivar Fagervoll, CEO of Golden Energy Offshore, remarked: “We hope that Golden Energy Offshore and Gen2 Energy together can find zero-emissions solutions that are attractive to our customers and capable of being implemented both on existing vessels in the fleet and newbuilds.

“The markets we are serving are increasingly demanding the most environmentally friendly solutions as using hydrogen including methanol and ammonia. Teaming up with Gen2 Energy may enable us to provide solutions even beyond our high green standard.”

Golden Energy Offshore says that it is actively pursuing environmentally friendly solutions and has been certified in ISO 50001 Energy Management, ISO 9001 Quality Management, ISO 14001 Environmental Management, and OHSAS 18001 (ISO 45001) Health and Safety Management.

“The signing of this letter of intent marks another step in Golden Energy Offshore’s communicated strategy towards the green-shift. We have defined sustainability development goals and the work we will now commence together with Gen2 Energy is a next step in the same direction,” added Fagervoll.

As the maritime sector is a growing and promising market for green hydrogen products, according to Gen2 Energy, the firm believes it is well-positioned to supply this market with green hydrogen as fuel, since it is putting efforts into producing green hydrogen suitable for maritime use.

In addition, the firm wants to be part of a process of establishing the needed bunkering infrastructure for fuelling all types of vessels with green hydrogen.

Jonas Meyer, CEO of Gen2 Energy, commented: “The positive dialogue and collaboration with Golden Energy Offshore confirms the strong interest in finding solutions for using green hydrogen as fuel in maritime transport. We believe hydrogen for maritime application is a fuel for the future, as it can both reduce CO2 emissions significantly and it could be provided at cost-competitive levels against fossil-based fuel.”

In line with its strategy of pursuing solutions to bolster the use of hydrogen in the maritime sector, Gen2 Energy – together with HYON and ASCO Norway – applied for soft funding from Enova in April 2022 for a hydrogen hub for maritime transport in Nordland to be named the Green Artic HyHub.

Thanks to this project, a bunkering network from Mosjøen and Sandnessjøen ports will be set up to provide cost-competitive fueling of hydrogen to maritime customers or to swap containers onboard vessels.