French Fountaine Pajot will be the first shipyard to introduce hydrogen as an alternative energy source on its catamarans.
Against the backdrop of growing interest in environmentally friendly transport, there are more and more reports about ships using alternative energy sources. This time it became known about the 18-meter sailing catamaran Samana 59, a distinctive feature of which will be the presence on board of the hydrogen generator REXH2, manufactured by EODev.
The generator, equipped with the latest generation of Toyota fuel cells, is designed to operate in harsh marine conditions. It will provide up to 70kW of power and charge a 44kWh LiFePO battery. The compact system consists of a battery, a cooling system, a switchboard, a hydrogen supply line and a tank with a capacity of 7.5 kg of hydrogen. If desired, additional hydrogen tanks can be installed. An important feature of the system is the presence of automated power management with the ability to calculate the remaining power reserve.
It is especially emphasized that everything is arranged in such a way as to save the owner of the boat from the need to obtain additional knowledge on the maintenance of the installation. The absence of moving parts will simplify maintenance of the fuel cell, which has a claimed life of at least 15,000 hours. And the model design means that the generator can be installed on a variety of vessels.
The advantages of a hydrogen system over conventional gasoline or diesel engines include zero emissions and no engine noise. At the same time, according to the representatives of Fountaine Pajot, it is much more practical to use, compared to an all-electric system. The first Samana 59 with EODev technology will be built in early 2022.
It should be noted that the Samana 59 will be the first catamaran, but not the first vessel, to have the EODev solution installed on board. Previously reported on 12 meter boat French manufacturer Hynova Yacht, also using REXH2. In addition, news about all kinds of "hydrogen" yacht concepts and even superyachts.
