Technology to ship hydrogen ready by 2025, Hyundai Heavy unit says

HD Hyundai

13/01/2022 02:06

By Jonathan Saul and Heekyong Yang
    LONDON/SEOUL, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Korea Shipbuilding &
Offshore Engineering (KSOE) expects to have the technology to
transport hydrogen by ship by 2025, an executive said, targeting
a breakthrough in supplying a fuel touted by supporters as
offering a major source of clean energy.  
    The development by KSOE  009540.KS , the shipbuilding arm of
Hyundai Heavy Industries Group  267250.KS , one of the world's
biggest shipbuilders, comes amid growing global interest in
rolling out hydrogen as a cleaner fuel alternative. Vessel
makers worldwide are looking at ways to transport the gas,
currently supplied via pipelines and trucks. 
    A major challenge is to keep the hydrogen chilled at minus
253 degrees Celsius - only 20 degrees above absolute zero, the
coldest possible temperature - so it stays in liquid form, while
avoiding the risk that parts of a vessel could crack.
    "We already have developed a concept ship with a capacity of
20,000 cubic metres," said Yoo Byeong-yong, vice president with
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering's (KSOE) Energy System
Research Institute. 
    Though small at 20,000 cubic metres compared with the
largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supertankers - which can
carry up to 266,000 cubic meters - the hydrogen tankers will
grow in size as the technology develops.
    Around 20 ships with a 20,000 cubic meters capacity are
expected to be built in the decade starting in 2030, and if
demand grows that could increase to 200 larger vessels of
170,000 cubic metres after 2040, according to industry estimates
in South Korea, one of the world's shipbuilding powerhouses.
    "We foresee the global hydrogen market will grow rapidly
after 2030 and demand for ships will grow accordingly," said
Yoo, speaking in a video interview from Las Vegas during the CES
tech trade show. KSOE expects hydrogen tankers to be
commercialised between 2025 and 2027.
    KSOE's Yoo said in the early stages ships transporting
hydrogen would be fueled by LNG, but the vessels could be
powered by hydrogen itself once the hydrogen market matured. 
    Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade and
accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions, is under
growing pressure from environmentalists to deliver more concrete
action. 
    Industry regulators say first net-zero ships must enter the
global fleet by 2030, and ships powered by green hydrogen could
help meet the target.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Saul in London and Heekyong Yang in
Seoul; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((jonathan.saul@thomsonreuters.com; + 44 207 542 4357 ; Reuters
Messaging: jonathan.saul.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))