Number of zero-emission projects grows by 25%

The third edition of the study includes 203 projects, having grown from 106 projects in the second edition which was released in March 2021. While some of this growth can be attributed to better data collection, 86 of the projects included were initiated during 2021 and Q1 2022. There were 60 projects initiated during 2020 and 75 initiated during 2021.

The mapping demonstrates an increased focus on hydrogen-derived fuel production, with a clear trend towards green hydrogen electrolysis and green ammonia synthesis fuel production. A higher number of projects are targeting large vessels running on ammonia and methanol. Ammonia was the clear leader for large vessels, with hydrogen used across different ship sizes and battery power popular in small ship projects. Almost 60% of small vessel hydrogen projects involve hydrogen fuel cells.

There were more bunkering and infrastructure projects, with approximately 67% of the projects in the mapping focusing on ship technology, 31% on fuel production, and 19% on bunkering and infrastructure.

A majority of the projects are connected to Europe (114), followed by Asia (60), Oceania (14), North America (13), and South America (8). Since the last edition of the mapping, the number of Asian projects has increased from 31 to 61, with most projects taking place in Japan (29) and China (15), followed by Singapore (8) and South Korea (5).

Hydrogen and battery projects are the most likely to receive public funding, with more than half receiving public funding.

Since the second edition of the mapping, more than 20 percent of the projects in the mapping have publicly announced that they are developing or continuing into a new project phase. These developments include moving from a concept study to a demonstration in normal operations, receiving Approval in Principle, signing a Memorandum of Understanding, receiving funding, or adding new partners to the project.

The report is available here.