LR projects win funding to accelerate research into maritime decarbonisation

The work programme of the Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, which is advancing the decarbonisation of the maritime industry, has been expanded after five collaborative projects involving LR won funding from the UK Government’s Department of Transport.  

The funding comes from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CDMC) which aims to accelerate the development, design and manufacture of zero-emission vessels and the port infrastructure needed to support them.  

Reacting to the announcement, Charles Haskell, LR's Decarbonisation Programme Manager, said: “There’s an urgent need for the maritime sector to decarbonise its operations, and these projects show the incredible breadth and depth of the research underway in the UK, ranging from the technology needed onboard zero-emission ships to the upgrades to port infrastructure which will supply the zero-emission fuels of the future. As advisers to the maritime industry on decarbonisation, Lloyd’s Register and the Maritime Decarbonisaton Hub are excited to be involved in several of these vital research projects, which will provide valuable data to accelerate the global decarbonisation of the maritime industry.”

The five winning projects involving LR and the Maritime Decarbonisaton Hub are:

eFoiler CTV – This project brings together partners to investigate the feasibility of the Artemis eFoiler electric propulsion system as a transformative solution to decarbonise global crew transfer vessels which are often used in offshore wind farm operations. The participants are Artemis Technologies Ltd, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Tidal Transit Ltd and Lloyd’s Register EMEA.

Avoiding the hard cell – fuel cell integration into a large ship's power architecture – This project focuses on addressing barriers to adoption of fuel cells on a real, large ship application, potentially accelerating adoption, evaluating how a fuel cell can be applied to marine applications and safely integrated into a ship's operational functionality. The participants are GE Energy Power Conversion UK Limited, MSC Cruise Management (UK) Limited, Lloyd’s Register EMEA and Ceres Power Limited.

Zero Carbon Base Load Power for Large Ships – This project will investigate the feasibility of innovative solid oxide fuel cell technology and batteries to replace the use of diesel generators to provide electricity for onboard systems on cruise ships, such as heating, waste processing and air conditioning. The participants are Carnival plc, University of Southampton, Ceres Power Limited, Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited and Lloyd’s Register Group Services Limited.

Shipping, Hydrogen & Port Ecosystems UK (SHAPE UK) – This project aims to demonstrate an achievable modular green hydrogen generation system within Portsmouth International Port, delivering a decision support tool that will enable port managers to determine the environmental and economic use cases for hydrogen generation and use. The participants are University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth International Port, University of Brighton, KnowNow Information Ltd, Iotic Labs Limited, Lloyd’s Register EMEA, Barter For Things Ltd, Engas Global Ltd, Cox Powertrain Limited, Connected Places Catapult.  

National Clean Maritime Demonstration Hub – This project will conduct a high-quality feasibility study informing a business case for infrastructure investment in zero emission fuels and charging infrastructure at the Port of Grimsby, at the same time as investment in operational programmes of work that will establish Grimsby as a national Clean Maritime Demonstration Hub (CMDH). The participants are Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Associated British Ports, Rix Shipping Company Limited, Infrastrata PLC, Lloyd’s Register EMEA, TPG Maritime Limited, Zero Emissions Maritime Technology Ltd, Wood Group UK Limited, MJR Controls Limited.

Following an independent assessment, 55 projects won the competition, supported by private consortia comprising 208 partners from around the UK. The competition allocated more than £23million of match-funding to UK innovators.   

The mission of the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub is to accelerate the sustainable decarbonisation of the maritime industry, by enabling the delivery and operation of safe, technically feasible and commercially viable zero-emission vessels by 2030.