Yanmar trials new marine H2 fuel cell

The new system incorporates hydrogen fuel cell modules from Toyota’s MIRAI automobile and was installed on Yanmar’s EX38A FC pleasure boat for field testing which ran on 24 March in Oita in Japan.

The 12.4m boat is the first to officially comply with the safety guidelines for hydrogen fuel cell vessels put in place by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan. It has two polymer electrolyte full cells and eight 70M Pa hydrogen tanks. Yanmar aims to determine issues and solutions in a maritime environment to inform the wider rollout of the system and also plans to scale the maritime fuel cell system by connecting multiple units for use on larger vessels by 2025.

With marine environmental regulations tightening worldwide, in December last year the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry created its ‘Green Growth Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutrality’. The strategy highlights the development of energy and power sources that reduce the impact on the environment, including those for vessels powered by carbon free fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.