Yanmar has participated in a test of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered boat under the research project towards the development of the guidelines for safety of hydrogen fuel cell-powered boats in support of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan (MLIT).
Yanmar, the National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI) and the Japan Ship Technology Research Association (JSTRA) formed a consortium to develop the draft guidelines for safety of hydrogen fuel cell-powered boats. This project is a three-year plan, which MLIT has implemented since 2015 towards the establishment of the hydrogen-based society. In the final phase, the consortium carried out a field test towards the development of the draft guidelines using a 60 kW hydrogen fuel cell system, based on the results of primary testing in the previous phase of the project and successfully verified the safety requirements for the hydrogen fuel cell system. The consortium submitted this summary and the draft guidelines to MLIT.
The 60 kW maritime fuel cell system prototype has been developed through collaboration between Yanmar and Toyota Tsusho with modules from Ballard Power Systems Inc of Canada. The fuel cell system was installed on the test boat provided by NMRI with a lithium-ion battery system developed by Uzushio Electric Co., Ltd., and Yanmar and NMRI jointly conducted the field test. The test verified the safety requirements for both the hydrogen fuel cell system and the lithium-ion battery system.
Yanmar will continue research and development towards refining the capabilities of the maritime fuel cell system for deployment to hydrogen fuel cell-powered boats. Tour boats operating in urban waterways are a potential market for hydrogen fuel cell-powered boats. As a member of the maritime cluster, Yanmar will continue to cooperate with government, industry and academia on the development of hydrogen fuel cell-powered boats and ships.
