The NavHyS partners successfully concluded their 12-Month General Assembly, held on 29-30 January at Gas and Heat in Pisa, Italy. The event marked a key milestone in our shared journey towards advancing the use of liquid hydrogen in the shipping sector!
Over the course of the two-day assembly, participants engaged in a series of workshops, technical presentations, and work package reviews.
These sessions provided the opportunity to showcase the technical progress achieved during the first year, assess current challenges, and align on priorities for the upcoming phases.
Progress and Key Results
The Assembly showcased significant progress across all major work packages:
- LH₂ onboard tank: A preliminary design of the tank, tailored to the specific requirements of liquid hydrogen storage, has been completed.
- LH₂ fuel system: A reference architecture for the system has been selected, preliminarily confirming the technical opportunities unlocked by the integration of LH₂ pumps.
- Offshore wind support vessel: The general arrangement, system designs and all relevant technical documentation, have been developed, and a conceptual 3D render of the ship, illustrating the integration of the LH₂ tank and the fuel system on board, has been created.
- Ship operations specification: The technical and operational requirements for the hydrogen-fuelled vessel have been defined.
- Hydrogen refuelling supply chain: A preliminary bunkering protocol has been proposed.
- Life Cycle Assessment: A framework for conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been established to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of the NavHyS solutions.
- Safety analysis: A mini-HAZID, identifying potential hazards related to LH₂ bunkering, storage, transfer, and onboard use, has been conducted.
Programme Highlights
In addition to work package presentations, the assembly also featured interactive workshops on the LH₂ fuel system design, project KPIs, and strategies for exploiting project results.
A final highlight of the visit was the guided tour of the Gas and Heat facilities, which offered valuable insights into the construction of gas storage tanks as implemented within the NavHyS project.
Advancing toward Project Integration and Validation
With a solid technical foundation now in place and strong collaboration across the consortium, NavHyS is entering its next phase with confidence. Over the coming months, we will focus on further integration, validation, and refinement of the developed solutions, bringing the maritime sector one step closer to the safe and sustainable adoption of liquid hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel.
