Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) has granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) for the design of its liquid-hydrogen-powered service operation vessel (SOV).
In a statement issued today (17 April), BV said that the AiP follows a design review which included an analysis of the integration of the liquid hydrogen and fuel cell system performed in accordance with applicable industry rules and regulations, including BV Rules NR678 for Hydrogen-Fuelled Ships and NR547 for Ships Using Fuel Cells.
LDA is now working on the design of an SOV that will be capable of operating entirely on hydrogen in offshore wind farms under normal conditions. The 90 metre vessel will be powered during offshore operations by a set of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, installed in a dedicated fuel cell space, with a vacuum insulated Type C tank for LH2 storage.
According to BV, this setup will allow zero-emission operations for several days, allowing the vessel to work both during construction and O&M phases, without a need for specific infrastructures, be it offshore or onshore.
Gaël Cailleaux, Managing Director Renewables at LDA, commented: ‘This Approval in Principle marks a significant milestone. It confirms that this LH2-powered SOV is fully suitable to fulfill the wind farm maintenance contracts for which it was designed. This future vessel will be able to operate 95% of the time with zero carbon emissions, preventing the release of 4,000 tonnes of CO2 compared to a conventional SOV, based on our calculations.’
