The project was jointly undertaken by innogy, a leading distributor of green energy in Germany and the City of Essen.
The methanol fuel cell system powering the vessel is developed and manufactured by the Danish fuel cell manufacture SerEnergy.
“We are very proud to see the vessel touring the lake in Essen - it is an important milestone in showing the potential of methanol as the green fuel of the future," said Mads Friis Jensen, chief commercial officer at SerEnergy.
"For us, it has been a very interesting project to be part of, and since the project is a first of its kind we have had to think out of the box to create an ideal energy system matching the energy demands of the vessel,” Jensen said.
On Friday, after working five months on carrying out the plan, the MS innogy was given its name under a ship-naming ceremony in Essen, Germany, after which the vessel went out for the first official tour on the waters of Lake Baldeneysee.
A modular solution
The SerEnergy methanol fuel cell system is a modular solution making it easy to adjust according to the individual energy requirements of the customer.
This is a unique feature within the fuel cell industry where other systems would require more development work and adjustments to each project.
This also makes it possible for the customers to increase their system by expanding the rack with one module or more. The MS innogy fuel cell system is a 35 kW system consisting of seven 5 kW modules integrated in one rack. The energy system is a hybrid constellation consisting of a fuel cell system and a battery pack, where the fuel cells work as a range extender allowing the vessel to sail for an entire day without fuelling.
Using waste heat from the fuel cell to drive the methanol reformation process leads to a high electrical efficiency between 40-50 percent.
Not only has the methanol fuel cell system zero harmful emissions and is CO2-neutral, it is also low on noise and vibrations, allowing the passengers to enjoy the tour without the characteristic engine noise and vibrations you normally experience on a vessel.
“In the field of methanol fuel cell technology innogy already gained experience with the leading supplier ‘SerEnergy’ before the project started. We have chosen SerEnergy as a strong partner in our greenfuel project because they convinced us with their innovative and successful reference projects”, said Jens Kanacher, head of energy systems, and project manager of innogy's “greenfuel."
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