French maritime technology company Energy Observer, via its subsidiary EOConcept, has secured European Union funding for the development of a new container vessel powered by liquid hydrogen.
EOConcept launched the Energy Observer 2 project in 2022 with the aim of designing a cargo vessel with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. Known as EO2, the advanced demonstrator vessel will combine cutting-edge engineering and innovative technologies and is scheduled for completion by 2029.
Selected from among 85 projects in the EU Innovation Fund's latest call for projects, EO2 has been awarded €40 million (US$42 million) in financial support to encourage the development of clean technologies in sectors where decarbonisation has proven challenging.
Other partners on the project including shipping company the CMA CGM Group, Norwegian naval architecture firm LMG Marin, classification society Bureau Veritas, fuel cell specialist EODev, and Toyota. The partners contributed to feasibility studies over a two-year period to determine the optimum techno-economic model as well as select the technical and logistical solutions required for the pilot project.
The current design of EO2 is a 160-metre-long vessel with a capacity of 1,100 TEUs and a propulsion arrangement that will include 4.8MW fuel cells. The vessel will be designed to be capable of transporting 1,100 TEUs on a 1,600-nautical-mile route.