Overview
Novel energy and fuel technologies need to be developed and approved to replace harmful fuels, contributing to the achievement of climate goals. Sustainable fuels, such as liquid or compressed green H2, present a promising solution, but their safety and efficiency are yet to be approved. The EU-funded SAFeCRAFT project aims to develop and showcase the efficiency and safety of sustainable alternative fuels (SAF) for waterborne transport, encouraging their rapid adoption. The project will demonstrate four SAF-enabling technologies while utilising H2 on a demonstration vessel. Finally, the project will comprehensively assess safety, energy and cost efficiency, and environmental impact.
SAFeCRAFT’s overall goal is to develop and demonstrate the safety and viability and accelerate the adoption of Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAFs) in waterborne transport. It demonstrates four technologies, acting as SAF enablers for different types of oceangoing and short sea shipping vessels, both newbuilding and retrofits. SAFs used during handling, storage, and for main propulsion include liquid & compressed green H2, and two green H2 carriers, LOHCs and ammonia. SAFs used will be demonstrated on a bulk carrier and assessed and validated through detailed desktop studies for four other types of vessels typical in EU ports.
For the demo vessel, H2 will be used as the primary fuel source for a Generator Set providing power to a shaft motor (Power-Take-In) in parallel with the M/E, thus covering part of ship’s propulsion needs.
The desktop studies feature the aforementioned SAFs that lead into three powertrain options for each vessel, 1) fuel cell stacks & marine-type battery packs, 2) internal combustion M/E (for newbuildings), 3) internal combustion PTI generator similar to the demo.
These SAF enabling power train systems will be analyzed in-depth, using specific KPIs for safety, energy efficiency, environmental impact and technoeconomic feasibility.
SAFeCRAFT A-Z approach in utilizing SAFs, including bunkering, storage, handling and fuel consumption onboard, and the issuance of Approval in Principle for the engineering and design processes, will accelerate their implementation.
Three societal objectives will be served: 1) facilitating the creation of highly skilled jobs, 2) economic growth in the EU by development of new technologies and regulatory standards for waterborne transport, 3) reduction of the environmental footprint and acceleration of the transition to SAFs.
The core consortium members of the current proposal are also the core team of the NH3CRAFT and LH2CRAFT projects, while the well-balanced consortium consists of 11 partners from 6 countries.