Viking Lady - commercial ship debut for fuel cell technology

The Eidesvik offshore support ship Viking Lady may not quite be a brand new vessel – she was launched earlier in 2009, but her most significant feature was only installed and commissioned in December of that year, just in advance of COP15. Viking Lady is the first commercial vessel to use a fuel cell to provide a significant amount of power. As such, she is very much entitled to feature in a Ship Description.

Viking Lady is the ship chosen to be part of the FellowSHIP project, a Norwegian partnership between classification society Det Norske Veritas, shipowner Eidesvik and system integrator Wärtsilä. The fourth partner, MTU Onsite Energy (part of the German Tognum group) supplied the actual fuel cell in use.

The FellowSHIP project began in 2003 with a feasibility study, and, by 2005, had completed the basic design and development of marine fuel cell technologies In 2006, the project began development of a fuel cell as an auxiliary electric power pack. The fuel cell completed tests in September 2009 and was lifted onboard the ship, and by 3 December it had been linked up to its own control module and the ship’s power system, and the ship began operations using the fuel cell as part of its power system. The third and final phase of the project will be to develop a higher-output version of the fuel cell, and to test, qualify and demonstrate this at sea.

Viking Lady employs a dual-fuel LNG/Diesel electric power plant, with four Wärtsilä 34DF engines driving generators to provide electric power for propulsion and ship’s systems. The current fuel cell is of 320kW output and, like the main engines, is fuelled by LNG. This provides a significant portion of the base load when the ship is stationary, and when The Motorship visited the vessel moored in Copenhagen during COP15 the electrical load was being handled by the fuel cell and one of the four main gensets. The next stage of development is expected to achieve an output from the fuel cell of between 1MW and 4MW, in a similarly-sized package.

Fuel cells convert fuel more efficiently than traditional combustion engines and hence considerably reduce energy loss, harmful greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution. They are also near-silent in operation. According to DNV, a fuel cell is physically very similar to a very large battery, but whereas a battery is a storage device that has to be charged, the fuel cell actually creates electricity from a fuel. It converts the fuel’s chemically stored energy directly to electricity through a reaction with oxygen in the air. The fuel cell operates as long as it is supplied with a suitable fuel. With Viking Lady using LNG as the main fuel for its combustion engines – which in itself brings enormous environmental benefits compared with diesel or heavy fuel oils – a fuel cell operating on LNG was the logical choice. However fuel cell technology is such that units can operate on a variety of fuels; perhaps the best known is hydrogen gas, but, in addition to LNG, fuel cells have been developed to run on biofuels, methanol and landfill gas.

The Viking Lady operates as an offshore supply vessel, safely servicing offshore installations in the North Sea, on charter to Total from owner Eidesvik. She was designed by Wärtsilä Ship Design (formerly Vik Sandvik) and built in Norway by West Contractors.

The FellowSHIP project is funded principally by the Norwegian Research Council and Innovation Norway, with additional support from the Eureka network, which includes the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Its aim is to respond to rising concerns about the environmental impact of harmful emissions to air, including NOx, SOx, and CO₂. According to FellowSHIP, new tougher emissions regulations being considered by IMO and the EU mean that demand for commercial alternatives to traditional onboard power systems has risen. Fuel cell technology is not expected to manage the issue alone, but the technology can represents a vital piece of the puzzle in certain shipping segments, such as short sea, local port traffic, commuter ferries and cruise ships and offshore, among others. The technology is also expected to give vessels access to clean energy while in port.

FellowSHIP is expected to boost confidence in fuel cell technology among investors, ship owners, national authorities, classification societies, policy makers and the public in general – all instrumental to the technology’s eventual implementation on a broader scale.

DNV Maritime COO Tor Svenson told The Motorship that he believes that even the short time Viking Lady’s fuel cell has been in operation proves that the effort expended in developing a fuel cell specifically for the harsh maritime environment has shown that this can become one of the principal low-emissions technologies for the future. Further on-board testing will underline compliance with the stringent requirements of the marine power industry, and at the same time the on board implementation of fuel cells will provide opportunities to showcase the technology, build confidence and learn still more. DNV is carrying out further safety & reliability studies and developing type approval processes and rule development for marine fuel cells.

Wärtsilä has undertaken extensive work to integrate the power package into the ship, and this will continue. The present installation comprises two modules – the fuel cell itself, and the control module, stowed on the deck of the ship beneath the superstructure. As development progresses, the intention is seamlessly to build the fuel cell and its control system into the main ship system, according to the company. The marriage of LNG engines and LNG fuel cells is a happy one, that shows considerable promise for the future, in applications where the infrastructure for refuelling with LNG can be provided – and this infrastructure is growing. LNG technology is particularly suited to coastal and short-sea traffic, oil and gas operations, and use within port – all of which are particularly sensitive applications.

As ship owner, Eidesvik places great importance in demonstrating its commitment to new, cleaner, technologies, and looks on Viking Lady as an investment in the future. CEO Jan Fredrik Meling told us that partaking in FellowSHIP has been expensive, but will pay off in the long run by resulting in ships that will not only prove to lead the market in environmental friendliness but will be more efficient and cost less to run.

FellowSHIP quotes a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) and University of Colorado (Boulder) study published in 2009, said to be the first to provide an accurate estimate of shipping’s total contribution to air particle pollution based on direct measurement. It concludes that globally, ships emit 0.9 teragrams, or about 2.2 million lbs, of particle pollution each year. The study also notes that since more than 70% of shipping traffic takes place within 250 miles of the coastline, emissions represent a significant health concern for coastal communities.

Compared with a traditional ship, the reduction in harmful emissions as a result of the Viking Lady’s advanced technology equals the emissions from 22,000 cars annually.

With her innovative fuel cell technology and advanced systems integration, the Viking Lady is claimed to point to a cleaner and greener future for shipping. However, those behind the project point out that innovative technology comes with a price premium, and all that initiatives like FellowSHIP can do is demonstrate that the technology works and the emissions reductions are achievable. It is up to policy makers to provide framework conditions that help make the technology commercially viable.

FellowSHIP is expected to boost confidence in fuel cell technology among investors, ship owners, national authorities, classification societies, policy makers and the public in general – all instrumental to the technology’s eventual implementation on a broader scale. The project aims to develop power packs with a significant potential to reduce CO₂ emissions (up to 50%) and improve energy efficiency (up to 30%) when compared to conventional power generators. Emissions of harmful substances, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and particles, should be completely eradicated.

Principal particulars – Viking Lady