H2NOR Global Consortium

A joint effort to develop and produce modularised, cost-effective PEM fuel cell systems for the global marine industry, H2NOR was spearhead by Corvus, a front-runner in maritime clean technology. Project partners included Equinor, shipowners Norled and Wilhelmsen, ship design company LMG Marin, the NCE Maritime CleanTech cluster, and R&D institution the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The project received EUR 5.9m in funding from Innovation Norway and The Research Council of Norway. The Corvus Pelican Marine Fuel Cell System is the result of H2NOR project efforts. The Corvus Pelican is on track for commercial availability for delivery from 2024.

Fuel cell technology from world-leader, Toyota, with a fuel cell system design created for maritime

The H2NOR initiative combined Norwegian maritime expertise together with fuel cell modules supplied by one of the world’s largest fuel cell producers, Toyota, who has 30 years’ experience in the development and production of fuel cells for the automotive market and other land-based applications. Corvus and Toyota signed a partnership on 18 December 2020. The agreement secured Corvus access to proven fuel cell technology while enabling large-scale production and competitive pricing. The production will be the first of its kind in Norway, a leader in maritime decarbonization.

Marine fuel cells are an important step towards decarbonizing shipping and reducing maritime industry emissions.

Interest in hydrogen for maritime applications is rapidly increasing, with hydrogen power seen as an important step to reach the shipping sectors’ ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. Reducing the cost of fuel cells and increasing access to hydrogen fuel cell technology is crucial to accelerate the energy transition to cleaner power.

The H2NOR initiative represents an important step towards achieving both goals by producing modularised systems not available on a large scale today. The Corvus-Toyota partnership is positioned to enable a significant increase in capacity of marine fuel cells, as the shipping and maritime sectors advance towards a clean-energy future.