Bramble Energy has launched a hydrogen-electric boat powered by a printed circuit board fuel cell (PCBFC™) in Sheffield, UK.
The 57 foot narrowboat completed emission-free testing, using a custom marinised fuel cell system which can potentially provide around 600 miles of range using 14kg of hydrogen stored on-board. Additional power is supplied from solar panels on the vessels roof connected to a 22kWh battery system.
Being the lead partner in the HyTime project alongside Barrus, Bramble Energy created the demonstration vessel to showcase the potential of its PCBFC™ technology and its ability to decarbonise the marine sector cost-effectively.
Now the comprehensive testing programme on UK inland waterways has been completed, Bramble will analyse the boat’s data at its Hydrogen Innovation Hub in Crawley, along with information about the fuel cell’s performance under real-world conditions. This will support future development of PCBFC™ systems for other maritime applications.
Tom Mason, Co-Founder and CEO of Bramble Energy, said, “In a short amount of time we have designed, developed, built and launched a working demonstration of our PCBFC™ technology within a marine application.
“Our solution has the ability to meet a range of power needs and is easily scalable, which is the exact catalyst the industry needs to make a seamless shift to hydrogen to quickly meet emissions regulations and contribute to greener and cleaner waterways.”
In 2022, Bramble Energy was awarded Government funding from BEIS, and now the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), of around £1m ($1.2m) to develop its hydrogen fuel cell technology.
The technology has the potential to save each boat using the powertrain up to 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. The global maritime sector currently contributes to 940 million tonnes of CO2 per year, equating to around 2.5% of global greenhouse gases. The Clean Maritime Plan requires new vessels to be zero-emission capable from 2025.
In October (2023), Bramble Energy claimed its PCBFC™ technology can offer stack costs 10 times lower than existing technology. Bramble’s solution can allow them to produce stacks at $100/kW and has suggested it could reach costs as low as $60/kW as a result of scale.
Read more: Bramble Energy says its PCB fuel cell stacks are 10-times cheaper than existing tech
The company also announced plans to develop integrated, hydrogen-powered bus technology last May (2023). As the lead partner of the Hydrogen Electric Integrated Drivetrain Initiative (HEIDI), Bramble could use some of the £6.3m ($7.9m) of funding received from the Advanced Propulsion Centre as part of the Automotive Transformation Fund.
Bramble will create a hydrogen-powered double-decker bus utilising the PCBFC™ technology, with the powertrain being optimised through vehicle simulations carried out by the University of Bath.
Read more:Bramble Energy and partners to develop hydrogen bus fuel cell technology
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