DNV grants preliminary approval to HAV Group
The demonstration shows that their concept fulfils the initial criteria for safe and reliable operations with hydrogen as ship fuel.
DNV has awarded the Norwegian technology provider HAV Group ASA preliminary approval for its hydrogen-based energy system.
The system uses liquefied hydrogen storage and fuel cells and was created as part of the FreeCO2ast project, which is currently developing a high-capacity hydrogen energy system that can be retrofitted onboard two coastal cruise vessels owned by the Norwegian operator Havila Kystruten.
The preliminary approval through DNV means that HAV Group ASA can confidently enter the final design stage and is one step closer to commercializing its hydrogen system.
Green hydrogen could play an important role in the decarbonization of shipping – both in terms of its potential as an enabler for synthetic fuels and its direct use as ship fuel. However, hydrogen’s unique properties make it a complex fuel to work with, and the lack of prescriptive regulations means that companies wishing to launch hydrogen systems need to follow the IMO guidelines on alternative design (MSC.1/Circ.1455). As with all emerging fuels, the maintenance of high safety levels when using hydrogen is paramount.
Ivar Håberg, Director of Approval, Ship Classification, DNV Maritime, said, “The Alternative design approval process is used for novel ship designs that cannot be approved with the current prescriptive regulations, and the final approval is granted by the Flag State.”
Gunnar Larsen, CEO of HAV Group ASA, said, “Getting to this stage has been the result of four years of cooperation with our internal and external partners in the FreeCo2ast project and excellent support from experts at DNV.”
In a separate project, DNV advisory experts supported HAV Group ASA with Hazard Identification (HAZID study) and Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) for every aspect of their hydrogen fuel system, including bunkering, storage tanks, the fuel supply system and other auxiliary systems that are connected to the hydrogen system on board the vessels.
