ELIRE Maritime Unveils Grid Independent Hydrogen Power Hub as Ports Race to Cut Emissions Without Waiting for Grid Upgrades

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ELIRE Maritime and its consortium partners said on Monday they had completed a UK backed feasibility programme validating a floating hydrogen powered energy hub designed to supply shore power to vessels without relying on port grid infrastructure, a move aimed at tackling one of the biggest barriers to maritime decarbonisation.

The six-month programme, funded through the UK government’s Clean Maritime Demonstrator Competition Round 6, validated a modular floating platform capable of delivering 5MW of continuous power directly to berthed vessels using hydrogen fuel cells, battery storage, and onboard renewable generation. The consortium said the system could reduce vessel emissions at berth by about 77% compared with conventional onboard diesel generation.

The project matters for ports facing growing pressure to provide shore power while struggling with grid constraints, permitting delays, land shortages, and rising infrastructure costs. Traditional shore power projects can take between three and seven years to complete because they often require grid reinforcement and substation upgrades, according to the consortium.

“Ports do not need to wait years for grid upgrades to begin reducing emissions,” said Luke Jenkinson, founder and chief executive of ELIRE Maritime, in a statement announcing the project’s completion.

The Hydrogen Power Hub consists of three modular floating platforms with a combined footprint of about 1,200 square metres. The system integrates approximately 45MWh of battery storage, modular fuel cells, hydrogen storage tanks, and electrical systems capable of supplying both 6.6kV and 11kV shore power connections used by larger vessels.

According to the consortium, the platform can deliver around 91MWh of energy each week while consuming between 7,500kg and 8,000kg of hydrogen. Refuelling would typically occur twice-weekly using modular ISO compatible hydrogen storage containers integrated into the floating structure.

Rather than relying on large generators operating at peak load, the system gradually charges onboard batteries through 1.3MW fuel cells before rapidly dispatching energy when vessels arrive at berth. The platform also incorporates up to 146kW of onboard solar generation to reduce hydrogen consumption.

Industry analysts have increasingly pointed to shore power infrastructure as a bottleneck for emissions reduction in ports handling cruise ships, RoRo vessels, and container traffic. Many terminals remain unable to support simultaneous vessel electrification because local power grids cannot supply sufficient capacity during peak demand periods.

The consortium included Ricardo UK, Schneider Electric, Rux Energy UK, Triton Anchor Europe, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, the University of Strathclyde, and Sealand Projects. Partners conducted hydrodynamic testing, mooring analysis, electrical validation, and hydrogen integration studies during the programme.

Wave tank testing by the University of Strathclyde validated platform stability and multi-platform connectivity under varying sea states, while Schneider Electric validated the grid independent electrical architecture and battery systems.

The consortium estimated the global addressable market for grid independent maritime energy systems at about 62TWh annually, particularly in ports where conventional shore power remains commercially or technically difficult to deploy.

While hydrogen powered shore energy remains more expensive than conventional diesel or grid electricity, with demonstrator scale energy costs estimated between £0.25 and £0.50 per kWh, the consortium argued that faster deployment and infrastructure flexibility could offset higher fuel costs in constrained ports.

ELIRE Maritime said discussions are underway for deployments in the UK, Europe, and Australia, with early stage conversations involving ports in London, Singapore, Hamburg, Brisbane, and Riga.

The consortium said the system could support up to 500,000 tonnes of global carbon dioxide reductions over the next decade if deployed at scale, while also reducing nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide, and particulate emissions from vessels operating auxiliary diesel engines at berth.