In an effort to achieve the United Nations International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) goal to half the amount of carbon emissions associated with the marine sector, Ballard Power Systems has launched a new fuel cell product designed to power vessels.

Unveiled today, the FCwave™ is a 200-kilowatt modular unit boats more than a 30,000-hour operating lifetime and can be scaled in series up to the multi-megawatt power level.

As well as providing primary propulsion power for vessels, the unit can also provide stationary electrical power to support hotel and auxiliary loads of marine vessels while docked at port.

Rob Campbell, Chief Commercial Officer at Ballard, said, “Ballard is focused on heavy- and medium-duty motive applications, particularly where requirements include heavy payload, extended range and rapid refuelling.”

“This is a sweet spot for our fuel cell value proposition, which is back up by more than 50 million kilometres of operational experience in thousands of vehicles. The same requirements underpin use cases in the maritime industry, resulting in a significant addressable market opportunity that can be efficiently addressed by our new FCwave™ product.”

“Global efforts to decarbonise include commercial maritime activities, where Ballard intends to build on our leading position in zero emission fuel cell solutions.”

Ballard is currently engaged in the Type Approval process with DNV-GL, an international accredited registrar and classification society.