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China's first hydrogen-powered ship makes voyage

 

Published by
Global Hydrogen Review,

The 'Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1', China's first hydrogen-powered ship, has made its maiden voyage in Yichang City, in central China's Hubei Province, marking a breakthrough in the country's application of hydrogen fuel cell technology in inland waterway vessels.

The vessel has a steel-aluminum composite structure with a total length of 49.9 m, a beam of 10.4 m, and a draft of 3.2 m. Powered by a 500 kW hydrogen fuel cell, the ship has a maximum cruise range of 200 km.

The ship has been jointly developed by companies including China State Shipbuilding Corp., China Yangtze Power Corp., Jianglong Shipbuilding, and institutions including Wuhan Changjiang Ship Design Institute and the Three Gorges Navigation Authority. It is also the first hydrogen-powered boat certified by the China Classification Society.

Compared with traditional fuel-powered ships, the hydrogen-powered vessel is expected to replace 103.16 t of fuel oil and reduce carbon dioxide CO2 emissions by 343.67 tpy.

The vessel can be supplied with energy at the green electricity and green hydrogen demonstration station of the Three Gorges, located at the Yangjia Bay in the lower reaches of the gorges.

As China's first inland dock-type hydrogen production and refuelling station, it uses the clean electric energy generated by the Three Gorges power station to electrolyse water to produce hydrogen, which will be directly supplied to hydrogen-powered ships after compression, storage and filling. The station can supply 240 kg/h of hydrogen.