Hydrogen in the Portuguese Navy: A case study

Abstract

Hydrogen systems in the maritime domain are a technology that is still under development, and there are currently no commercial solutions and alternatives. There are already some solutions at the European level regarding production, but Portugal is still in an exploratory phase. We explore hydrogen systems (production, storage, and utilization) in the Portuguese Navy, proposing a strategy for their use that can be easily generalized to other similar case studies. Through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, the main identified limitations are the associated costs, the lack of technological maturity, and the lack of existing knowledge in the organization. The short, medium, and long-term proposed strategy should focus on production autonomy, solar panels and wind turbine utilization (daytime and nighttime arc energy acquisition), passenger transport, reconversion of existing naval platforms, and in the last phase, the acquisition of new equipment.