“An important addition to show that fossil-free shipping is indeed possible”

Just over a year ago, Uppsala University, together with a number of business actors including Gotlandsbolaget, was granted funding for a research project on hydrogen for Gotland traffic.

Björn Samuelsson, researcher at Uppsala University, Campus Gotland, is leading the project, which aims to present a complete, sustainable and reliable supply system for fossil-free hydrogen to be implemented by 2030. The project uses the Horizon vessel as a concept to perform the calculations.

The first year has mainly been about gathering information and expanding the network of contacts and skills to be able to fulfill the project’s objectives. One of the areas that the project has focused a lot on during the year is the question of how the actual bunkering, that is, how the ships can be refueled with hydrogen, should be done.

– Historically, when hydrogen has been refueled in the transport sector, it has been a few tens of kilos. In the case of hydrogen for the Gotland traffic, it is several tons. This poses some physical challenges as the hydrogen risks becoming too hot when this large volume is filled quickly, says Björn.

Björn Samuelsson and Uppsala University, in collaboration with KTH, have conducted a side project funded by Lighthouse to find possible solutions for cooling the gas.

– “Together with KTH, we have carried out simulations on how such large amounts of gas can be cooled down. The results from the simulation have been very good and we hope to be able to test it in a lab environment in 2023,” says Björn.

Before the actual bunkering becomes relevant, the production of hydrogen also needs to be scaled up. This is something that will be in focus during 2023, Björn says and explains:

– In Q1, we will work closely with OX2 to discuss possible routes for hydrogen production itself. The main aim is to achieve as economically smart a solution as possible – whether this means that the actual hydrogen production is carried out on the platforms in an offshore wind farm or on land are issues that we will turn over and over during the spring. There are clear advantages to both options. In the case of offshore production, we can use the oxygen produced during the production of hydrogen to oxygenate the seabed. With onshore production, the resulting waste heat can be added to the district heating network.

The project will run until the end of 2023 and will be finalized in a report in early 2024. Björn summarizes what the project will focus on in 2023 in three main areas:

1. logistics of bunkering hydrogen to ships and how to cool it down
2. location of hydrogen production – should it be offshore or onshore, how much storage capacity is needed?
3. safety and legislation regarding the handling of hydrogen in a port area.
Here, dialogues with authorities and politicians will be conducted.

– We have a strong belief in the concept, of course there are challenges, but I am absolutely convinced that this is an important addition to show that fossil-free shipping is really possible,” concludes Björn Samuelsson.