Approval in Principle (AiP) has been awarded to Genevos for the complete hydrogen energy system installation on board the IMOCA ‘OceansLab – Cleantech Accelerator’.
The approval was provided by Lloyds Register (LR), provider of classification and global services in marine engineering and technology.
The awarded AiP includes the validation of the hydrogen system design and safety concept in addition to the hydrogen installation, storage and power systems.
The technical review, inspection, and tests certified the energy system in accordance with maritime safety standards.
The approval follows on from the 2021 AiP awarded to Genevos for its 15kW hydrogen power module installed in the IMOCA, and for the use on ocean going ships, yachts, and special service craft.
‘OceansLab – Cleantech Accelerator’, is intended for professional ocean racing, with a core objective to demonstrate clean technologies for the maritime environment.
The yacht will compete in transatlantic and around the world races collecting data on new power technologies, particularly the performance of fuel cells operating in an offshore environment.
“LR is pleased to award AiP to Genevos for their hydrogen installation onboard the OceansLab – Cleantech Accelerator race boat after a thorough certification process,” said Tariq Berdai, LR business manager for France and Monaco. “Throughout our 260-year history we have always strived to support innovation in maritime and this approval in principle signposts the valuable role competitive ocean racing can have in testing alternative fuels such as hydrogen.”
In November the OceansLab race yacht became one of the first vessels to be fuelled with green hydrogen, a process which took place in the port of Chef de Baie, La Rochelle, and was distributed by project Cleantech Hub Partner Brétéché.
“Last month we successfully achieved two important breakthroughs worldwide for hydrogen use in the maritime sector: completing one of the first fuellings of a vessel with green hydrogen and achieving a safety validation from LR of the full hydrogen system installation,” said Phil Sharp, CTO and co-founder of Genevos, and OceansLab skipper. “This was the result of a strong collaboration between first movers that succeeded in their mission.
He added: “Today, these results will no doubt have a profound drop-down effect into the maritime sector, accelerating the transition towards true zero emission vessels.”
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