Samsung Heavy Industries Prepares for the Next 10 Years with Fuel Cell Ships

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Samsung Heavy Industries is accelerating the development of fuel cell-applied ships to secure a leading position in the future eco-friendly ship market.

On the 30th, Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it has signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Bloom Energy, a global fuel cell manufacturer based in the United States, for the joint development of fuel cells for ships.

Samsung Heavy Industries plans to further solidify its technological leadership in future eco-friendly ships by securing additional core fuel cell technologies applicable to its main products such as LNG carriers and shuttle tankers by 2022 through joint development with Bloom Energy, which succeeded in commercializing the world's first Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC).

Prior to signing this agreement, the two companies had already obtained the world's first Approval in Principle (AIP) from DNV GL, the Norwegian-German classification society, for the basic design of a fuel cell-applied crude oil carrier in September last year.

Fuel cells are highly efficient in power generation and have significant effects in reducing environmental pollutants such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and greenhouse gases (CO2), making them an optimized future eco-friendly energy source capable of replacing conventional internal combustion engine ship propulsion systems and generators.

Meanwhile, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which mandates a reduction of ship greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30% compared to 2008 levels by 2025, presented a vision at the 72nd session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in 2018 to "strongly and promptly implement reductions in ship greenhouse gas emissions," and is currently considering strengthening regulations to 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050.

Jang Hae-gi, General Manager of the Technology Sales Team at Samsung Heavy Industries, emphasized, "As environmental regulations become stricter, the trend to move away from traditional ship fuel oil will accelerate," adding, "Samsung Heavy Industries' fuel cell ship technology will become the safest and most economical eco-friendly solution in the shipping industry in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.