The Application of Hybrid Energy system (Hydrogen Fuel cell, wind, and solar) in shipping

Abstract

This research assesses the technical feasibility of a hybrid propulsion system for bulk carriers, combining green hydrogen with wind and solar energy. The aim is to achieve zero-emissions shipping and reduce reliance on conventional fossil fuels. Previous studies in this field have typically focused on a single model for a specific vessel, whereas our research assesses a range of vessels based on their size, resulting in a total of 4986 vessels assessed. In addition, we applied the proposed model to all vessels at different speeds to check its applicability. Our calculations show that the proposed hybrid model can be applied to specific routes, under specific conditions, and on some vessel sizes, with the power generated by hydrogen fuel cells (HFCs) being the main power source. However, the number of vessels that can sail without conventional fossil fuels can be increased by combining this power source with other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. The final result of the calculation showed that distance, speed, and ship size are the most influential parameters on the applicability of the proposed hybrid model in this research. Based on the calculation, wind power, solar power, and HFC are able to cover 8 to 27%, less than 1%, and 50 to 100% of the total required power for propulsion correspondingly depending on the mentioned influential parameters in the previous sentence.