Bergen, Norway and Vancouver, Canada, April 4, 2022—The Corvus Energy Hydrogen Fuel Cell System developed through the H2NOR project has received Approval in Principle (AiP) by DNV for its groundbreaking safety solution enabling simplified placement of the system inside a ship’s hull. This is the first fuel cell system (FCS) designed to be inherently gas safe meaning that the surrounding machinery space will be considered gas safe under all conditions. This design significantly reduces the number of requirements for the safety and ventilation support systems, thereby enabling a more efficient integration onboard the ship.

The main route to powering a clean future

“We’re excited that the inherently gas safe design developed in the project has received approval in principle from DNV, meeting the highest safety standards in the industry,” says Geir Bjørkeli, CEO of Corvus Energy.

“Hydrogen fuel cells in combination with batteries is a clear path towards powering a clean future for shipping. Scalable technology combined with safety and easy integration will help accelerate the transition and make it available to more vessel types”.

Mass-produced fuel cell technology for marine use

The building block of the FCS is a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell module supplied by the world leading fuel cell  manufacturer, Toyota, ensuring top quality,safety and market availability for the system.

“This project is unique since we’re combining well-known inherently gas safety design principles from LNG ships with fuel cell technology from Toyota,” says Torbjørn Bringedal, CEO at LMG Marin and project partner in H2NOR.

“As ship designers, we are eager to continue our journey providing zero-emission shipping solutions and we consider inherently safe fuel cell products essential in order to obtain compact and cost-efficient hydrogen solutions.”

The Corvus Fuel Cell System can serve as the main power source or as an additional power source to increase fuel flexibility onboard. With water being the only exhaust, the Corvus Fuel Cell will allow a ship to operate in any harbor and protected area today and in the future.

Project partners and scope

The solution is being developed by the H2NOR project, a consortium coordinated by Corvus together with partners Toyota Motor Europe, Equinor, shipowners Norled and Wilhelmsen, ship design company LMG Marin, the NCE Maritime CleanTech cluster and R&D institution the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The project will develop and produce modularized and cost-effective PEM fuel cell systems for the international marine market. The project has received EUR 5.9 m in funding from state agency Innovation Norway and The Research Council of Norway, bolstering Corvus’ front-runner position in clean technology.

Commercial delivery in 2024

H2NOR is scheduled to showcase its first marine fuel cell system onboard sailings pilots in 2023, which will take place alongside marine type approval of the product. The product will be commercially available from 2024, resulting in the expansion of the Corvus factories that will manufacture world-leading marine battery and fuel cell systems for all types of commercial marine vessels.

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Video: Introducing the Inherently Gas Safe Marine Fuel Cells

Photo caption: The Corvus Energy marine Fuel Cell System with inherently gas safe design is based on world leader Toyota’s fuel cell technology.

Photo caption: The Corvus Fuel Cell System can serve as the main power source or as an additional power source to increase fuel flexibility onboard. With water being the only exhaust, the Corvus Fuel Cell will allow a ship to operate in any harbor and protected area today and in the future.

About DNV

DNV is the world’s leading classification society and a recognized advisor for the maritime industry. DNV enhances safety, quality, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the global shipping industry – across all vessel types and offshore structures.

For more information visit: www.dnv.com/maritime/

About Corvus Energy

Corvus Energy is the leading supplier of energy storage systems (ESS) for maritime, offshore, subsea and port applications. Corvus Energy offers a full portfolio of ESS suitable for almost every vessel type, providing high power energy storage in the form of modular lithium-ion battery systems. The purpose-built, field-proven battery systems provide sustained power to hybrid and all-electric heavy industrial equipment, including large marine propulsion drives. Corvus Energy has unsurpassed experience from 500 projects, totaling over 400 MWh and more than 3,5 million operating hours. The company also develops maritime hydrogen fuel cells in collaboration with world leader in fuel cell technology, Toyota.

For more information, please visit www.corvusenergy.com

About H2NOR

Development and demonstration of a maritime hydrogen fuel cell system with performance ranging from 320 kW to 10 MW, based on world leader Toyota fuel cell technology.

Project Partners: Corvus Energy, Toyota Motor Europe, Equinor, Norled, Wilhelmsen, USN, LMG Marin, NCE Maritime CleanTech

Project Lead and coordinator: Corvus Energy, Bergen

Goal: Scalable product ready for production in Bergen and commercial phase.

End of project: 2023

Commercial deliveries start: 2024

Media Contacts

Sonja Vernøy Hansen
Marketing Communications Manager
+47 99 309 309
svhansen@corvusenergy.com

Kristian Eikeland Holmefjord
EVP & Project Director Fuel Cell
+47 907 46 398
kholmefjord@corvusenergy.com