Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Selected as First Domestic Company to Develop Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tugboat

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's ammonia fuel supply system demonstration facility. Photo by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) announced on the 1st that it has been selected as the developer for the 'Korean Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tugboat Development Project,' the first of its kind in Korea, and has begun research activities.

This project, led by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, is a large-scale national initiative with a total development budget of 23.5 billion KRW aimed at developing an eco-friendly tugboat powered by hydrogen fuel cells, targeting the commercialization of a Korean-style eco-friendly tugboat by 2026.

A tugboat plays the role of pushing or pulling vessels that cannot move on their own in coastal and port areas. However, it has been found that most of the currently operating tugboats do not meet the International Maritime Organization’s carbon emission standards. In response, the industry has introduced some LNG (liquefied natural gas) fueled tugboats on site since last year, but due to economic feasibility issues, the need to explore new alternatives has been raised.

DSME, in collaboration with related national research institutes, universities, and companies specializing in eco-friendly ship technologies, will develop a hydrogen fuel cell-battery hybrid propulsion system with a maximum capacity of 3 MW based on its accumulated remote monitoring and control technology. This system will be applied to actual vessels, and demonstration work will be conducted both on land and at sea.

Through participation in this project, DSME will contribute to the government’s policy drive to achieve the '2050 National Carbon Neutrality' goal by developing eco-friendly ship technologies. Furthermore, the company expects to leverage the diverse experiences and achievements gained during this technology development process to take the lead in the era of zero-carbon ship commercialization.

Additionally, DSME is actively participating in the 'Gyeongsangnam-do Large Vessel Zero-Carbon Fuel Regulatory Free Zone' project, showing proactive efforts in developing ship technologies using ammonia, which is gaining attention as the next-generation ship fuel.

The Regulatory Free Zone is a government-designated area where specific technologies can be tested, demonstrated, and developed without separate restrictions. Gyeongsangnam-do was recently designated as a 'Large Vessel Zero-Carbon Fuel Regulatory Free Zone' to proactively respond to future carbon-neutral market demands and simultaneously maximize domestic equipment localization rates. The region will engage in research and development activities for a total of four years.

In this project, DSME will lead the development of the 'Ammonia Fuel Supply System' and plans to conduct demonstration work by operating vessels equipped with ammonia dual-fuel engines in the Okpo National Industrial Complex and the maritime demonstration zone in Geoje City.

Choi Dong-gyu, Executive Vice President and Head of DSME Central Research Institute, stated, "The company is fully committed to developing technologies for future carbon-neutral vessels. Through the execution of projects related to hydrogen fuel cell and ammonia dual-fuel propulsion vessels, we will focus on securing technological competitiveness to gain a leading position in the eco-friendly ship market."

Meanwhile, DSME is also conducting technical verification of its self-developed 'Ammonia Fuel Supply System' by equipping demonstration test facilities at the industry's first integrated testing center, the ‘Energy System Testing Center.’

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