Ulstein unveils hydrogen-hybrid wind turbine installation vessel
Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein has added to its suite of hydrogen-powered designs for the offshore wind industry with the unveiling of the Ulstein J102 zero emission wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV).
The new WTIV can operate 75% of the time in zero emission mode, the company says, and has been designed so that future developments in hydrogen technology can easily be fitted into the vessel without major modifications.
“We have carefully analysed the operational cycle of WTIVs and looked at the power demand in the various modes of operations,” said Ko Stroo, Product Manager at Ulstein. “This analysis showed that ca. 75% of its time, a WTIV is in jacked-up position performing crane operations. Using a combination of a hydrogen fuel cell system and a relatively small battery energy storage system (BESS) is then sufficient to meet the overall power demand on board and crane peak loads.”
Last year, Ulstein introduced a hydrogen-powered construction support vessel design which it claims to be market-ready now with sea trials as early as 2022.
