Watertaxi Rotterdam launches first hydrogen boat
Dutch operator Watertaxi Rotterdam has launched its first hydrogen boat. The H2 water taxi dubbed MSTX 22 integrates components from various providers, including EKPO and the so-called SWIM consortium of Enviu, Flying Fish and zepp.solutions.
The MSTX 22 has room for up to twelve passengers, and Watertaxi Rotterdam will use it in regular ferry services. The hydrogen-powered vessel measures 8.8 metres, and with 14 kg of hydrogen on board, the water cab can run for nine hours and reaches a top speed of 13 knots (25 kph).
Within SWIM, zepp.solutions signed responsible for the integration delivered their turnkey solution Y50 with integrated fuel cell stack from EKPO. The NM5-EVO PEMFC stack module is currently available with up to 335 cells. At 2.5 bara operating pressure, it achieves an output of up to 76 kW and is also used in automotive applications.
The water taxi is the first maritime application, and the integration in a water taxi illustrated “just how flexibly our stacks can be used,” said Julien Etienne, Chief Commercial Officer at EKPO.
Other possible applications include logistics centres and ports.
EKPO and zepp are contractually bound and said they were “committed to continuing their business arrangement on the basis of the successes achieved so far and are currently in talks about the future.”
The public debut of the new hydrogen water taxi will take place at the World Port Days on Saturday, 3 and Sunday, 4 September. Those days, the MSTX 22 is moored at the water taxi jetty in the Leuvehaven on the corner of Wolfshoek and Wijnhaven.
“It is amazing to see how Rotterdam entrepreneurs are energetically working on the energy transition in our city,” said alderman Chantal Zeegers (Climate, Building and Living) when seeing the boat.
Also, the Port of Rotterdam is no stranger to hydrogen and is part of the HyTrucks consortium formed by Hyzon Motors, Air Liquide and DATS 24, along with the ports of Antwerp and Duisburg. Hytrucks has pledged to deploy 1,000 H2 trucks and 25 H2 refuelling stations by 2025.
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