Proton Motor debuts first fuel cell passenger ship

The ship billed as the first fuel cell-powered passenger vessel in the world took its maiden voyage today in Hamburg, Germany.

The zero-emissions boat, dubbed the ZemShip, is expected to operate in a
test mode until later this year. At that time, the city plans to allow passengers to ride the ship on the Alster and Elbe rivers.

The fuel cell system was developed by Puchheim, Germany-based Proton Motor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Proton Power Systems (LSE: PPS.L). Proton now plans to leverage the experience to break into a significant market for clean-running boats, CEO Thomas Melczer told the Cleantech Group today.

"The market for small tourist ships is quite large in Hamburg, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, everywhere," Melczer said. "There's interest in Europe for these ships, especially in lakes that supply drinking water where you don’t want diesel engines running."

Take a look at the ship and fuel-cell system here >>

It's too early to determine the price tag for the company's fuel cell-powered ships, said Joachim Kroemer, sales director of Proton.

"We expect to begin discussions soon with potential customers, and the price strongly depends on how many systems will be produced," Kroemere said. "We'll try to get five-to-10 of these systems developed in the same time frame, and then we will be able to get a 50 percent cost reduction."

Proton is also exploring the use of the fuel cell technology for small pickup trucks, buses, forklifts and stationary power systems, Melczer said. The company is working with Wilhelm Karmann to build a zero-emission, light-duty commercial vehicle (see Proton, Karmann to build hybrid fuel cell truck).

Those systems could use lithium ion, nickel metal hydride or nickel cadmium batteries, but Proton was restricted to using a lead acid gel battery for the ship's system.

A software system will manage the power supply to make the ship about twice as fuel-efficient as a standard diesel ship, Kroemer said. The lead gel battery will work during peak demand, while the two 48-kilowatt fuel cells will drive the ship during the majority of its journey, Kroemer said. Germanischer Lloyd has certified the system for maritime operation.

The system is designed to use 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of gaseous hydrogen to operate for three, 8-hour days, Kroemer said.

A new, hydrogen fueling station installed by German hydrogen manufacturer Linde Group will supply the ship with its main source of fuel.

The ZemShip resulted from a two-year consortium of companies and government agencies, including the European Union, which  contributed €2.4 million to develop and operate the ship through 2010.

Although the companies say the project is the first passenger ship powered by fuel cells, the technology has long been examined for use in submarines (see Submarines: ideal fuel cell vehicles). Because fuel cells produce no exhaust heat, submarines can use the technology to evade detection.

Proton Power's shares were up 2.75 pence in Friday's trading, or 55 percent, to 7.75 pence. Proton was initially listed on a submarket of the London Stock Exchange in October 2006 valued at 90 pence per share, but shares have been in a steep decline since March and have bottomed out at 5 pence several times this summer.

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