Hydrogen+ : Who is Genevos?
Phil Sharp. Genevos is a company created to accelerate the energy transition in the maritime sector and across our oceans. As an ocean racing skipper, I have participated in many transatlantic races such as the Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques Vabres, and Mini Transat. This has allowed me to see many dirty and noisy commercial and fishing vessels. We have an expression in English “out of sight – out of mind”. We have a problem with the maritime industry which is responsible for 3.5% of our global emissions and pollutes more than aerospace, in a word, which is not exemplary.
Aware of pollution and to avoid taking diesel for my shopping, I started looking at and testing hydrogen fuel cells. Thanks to its light weight, I realized that it could be a modular solution to replace thermal engines on board almost all types of boats. With my wife, a marketing specialist, we started Genevos to offer modular solutions to make this technology accessible to boats of all sizes: ships, ferries, work boats and pleasure boats.
What solutions do you provide for these ships?
Genevos offers the Hydrogen Power Modules (HPM) as a turnkey solution to decarbonize boats and ships with a propulsion range from 10 kW up to 5 MW. This includes three sizes of fuel cells of 15, 40 and 80 kW, modules that can be mounted in parallel to achieve high power.
In addition to the 15 and 40 kW modules, we are launching our 80 kW HPM-80 at Hyvolution, a new product designed for durability, efficiency and light weight. With this new module, we are targeting high-power boats and ships, with a marinized solution that uses a Cummins-Hydrogenics “High Durability” stack and with highly corrosion-resistant graphite plates. The HPM-80 is designed for service boats, ferries, and initially small cargo ships for “short-sea” applications.
The HPM-15 and 40 are suitable for small passenger boats and pleasure boats. Our modules can be used in different configurations to reduce the carbon footprint of a boat: we can achieve a zero-emission boat. They can provide all the energy for propulsion with an electric transmission, in addition to charging the battery for the on-board network, without the need for a separate generator.
We can also make hybrid boats with our HPMs by using a hydrogen-electric mode for low speed and auxiliary power. This “hybrid” solution can be a very good first step for powerful workboats and fishing boats that do a lot of work at low speed, where the thermal engine is very inefficient. This solution can be implemented with a limited budget and hydrogen availability (storage).
To “retrofit” an existing boat, another solution is to replace the ship’s generator with a small heat pump, to eliminate associated emissions, noise and vibrations. This is something that is really significant on certain types of boats, reaching up to 50% of total energy consumption. With hydrogen power, we can therefore eliminate emissions from cargo ships and cruise ships in port and at anchor.
CHowever, we have identified that from the moment it is possible to have a high-speed maritime station, with access to large quantities of hydrogen, it is then interesting to have 100% hydrogen boats. The return on investment on the operating cost of diesel-powered boats is achieved in just 3 or 4 years. Operators can invest now, we now have technically and economically viable solutions for hydrogen-powered vessels!
What specific benefits do your solutions bring?
First, modularity brings a very important advantage, to have the possibility of putting several modules connected in parallel to reach the optimal power of the boat. We have the DC-DC converter and a controller already integrated in each module that allows it to be independent in terms of functionality. And so, for a system of 400 kW to 1 MW, if there is a problem with a module, or if it has to be removed for maintenance, it will not impact the normal operation of the boat. This is very important for a professional boat that can reach a usage of more than 5000 hours per year.
What also brings a lot of value with our “plug and play” module is that it integrates an integrated “power management” system for automatic hybridization management on the propulsion chain. It is an algorithm that we have developed that provides the optimal current directly to the electric propulsion. It works with the battery as a buffer and the engine demand to optimize the system efficiency, and also reduce dynamic stress to extend the battery life. To be the most practical to install, the module can also be physically stacked, one on top of the other, and simply bolted to the boat floor, without the need for additional support or frame.
Your solutions for hydrogen boats are operational. Are boat manufacturers and port infrastructures following suit?
It is very important that ship operators start investing in new fuel technology today. This is the only way to achieve zero emissions and we also have better energy performance thanks to a higher efficiency than thermal engines. Green hydrogen and e-fuels produced with green hydrogen such as green methanol, LOHC but also green ammonia will be vital to decarbonize the maritime sector and to reduce our emissions by 50% by 2030. We can already start by retrofitting and replacing all ships under 1 MW. 90% of the world’s goods are transported across the oceans, so all companies have a responsibility to support this transition and start choosing sustainable transport for our goods.
