GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

First demonstrators funded by previous FCH-JU projects, as well as other projects in recent years, have primarily focused on the demonstration of technical feasibility of fuel cells on board inland vessels. A large-scale demonstration is now required to further the uptake of fuel cells and hydrogen in this sector. This flagship project should include:

• at least 5 inland vessels (retrofitting and/or new build), with FC power above 500kW and preferably at 1 MW scale;
• at least 2 vessel types;
• 2 vessels should operate for at least 2 years, and the others for at least 1 year;
• vessels that should be able to bunker hydrogen in at least 2 different ports;
• creating a corridor, connecting to hydrogen infrastructure, aligned with the TEN-T network;
• preferably one vessel is a (self-propelled) hydrogen bunker barge, which can bunker vessels alongside while in transit, at anchorage, or at the pier;
• An overall plan for deployment (with different stages) that goes beyond the timeline of this project should be foreseen. The needs of support for later stages should be justified in view of closing the funding gap in a dynamic environment where hydrogen shipping becomes increasingly competitive with incumbent technologies.
• A detailed data monitoring strategy (with minimum parameters to be monitored) that would allow evaluate the overall financial, environmental and technical performance of each of the vessel to be deployed in the project in sufficient detail. Costs related to the monitoring equipment are eligible.

The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is € 15,00 million – proposals requesting Clean Hydrogen JU contributions above this amount will not be evaluated.