Demonstrations to accelerate the switch to safe use of new sustainable climate neutral fuels in waterborne transport (ZEWT Partnership)

Whilst smaller scale demonstration of vessels running on potentially sustainable climate neutral fuels have been ongoing in the waterborne transport sector, large-scale demonstrations, particularly with more challenging fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia for which end-to-end transnational operations, safety, environmental effects, risks and their mitigation are still lacking. The assessment of the results from such large-scale demonstrators are necessary to trigger the wider adoption of sustainable climate neutral fuels within the waterborne transport sector.
Adoption of sustainable climate neutral fuels within waterborne transport assets will in turn be possible only if the outstanding challenges of the daily operations are solved, for example bunkering, storage, handling and on-board operations have to be proven safe. Sustainable climate neutral fuels include potential new safety issues, such as toxicity, different flashpoints or fire hazards which are expected to be addressed.
Operational performance and efficiency of the overall system in full operations have to be demonstrated, especially with respect to air pollution (NOx, SOx, PM, methane or ammonia slip, black carbon etc.) and well to wake GHG emissions. The systems, processes and components needed to handle and use sustainable climate neutral fuels will also be demonstrated. Continuous emission and performance monitoring systems and their integration are an additional challenge that should be taken into consideration, including monitoring of emission profiles and identifying operating patterns that require optimisation as well as the identification and management of potential trade-offs.
Smart digitalisation also provides new opportunities to facilitate the efficient, clean and safe use of climate neutral sustainable fuels, for example by enabling advanced engine emission management.
Activities will also underpin the pre-normative R&I required to facilitate the routine deployment of Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAFs).
Demonstration within operational conditions is targeted. The challenge is to increase confidence in, and acceptability of, the viability of sustainable climate neutral fuels where full operational demonstration has yet to be achieved, including for example green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol sustainable liquid and gaseous advanced biofuels and other advanced intermediate bioenergy and synthetic renewable energy carriers, together with their associated power systems.
Projects are expected to address all of the following aspects either for a) inland waterway transport or b) maritime transport applications:
- Develop, validate and demonstrate a sustainable climate-neutral fuels system on board, in full transnational operations including fuel distribution, bunkering, fuel storage, power conversion and possible residue handling. A minimal power of 1MW (for either full or partial vessel power), addressing significant challenges and going beyond state-of-the-art as well as demonstrating achievement of FuelEU Maritime 2040 targets is required. Demonstrating higher powers which will be applicable to a wider range of applications is encouraged. Due to the scale of resources required, for option a) inland waterway transport- demonstration is expected to be undertaken on more than one vessel type, for option b) maritime transport- it is optional to demonstrate more than one vessel. Use of replacement renewable low carbon fuels in otherwise conventional oil/gas-based energy conversion technology should not be considered.
- Demonstrate applicability of sustainable climate neutral fuels in particular considering stricter environmental expectations and regulations, such as those applicable to passenger ships, inland waterway transport and other environmentally sensitive regions.
- Provide validated risk and safety assessments, mitigation measures and demonstration supporting the development of safety provisions in regulation proposals both in EU and potentially at IMO, ISO and inland waterway regulatory frameworks and taking into account operational conditions such as cargo handling activities.
- Demonstrate the capacity of innovative smart digitalisation to facilitate the safe, clean and efficient on-board use of sustainable climate neutral fuels.
- Plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results for proposals submitted under this topic should include a strong business case and sound exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination. The exploitation plans should include preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment (feasibility study, business plan) indicating the possible funding sources to be potentially used (such as the Innovation Fund).
- Proposals should plan and propose relevant synergies with relevant Horizon Europe activities such as the Clean Oceans Mission, the Batteries co-programmed partnership and the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking results and activities arising from projects under topics HORIZON-CL5-2021-D5-01-07 or HORIZON-CL5-2021-D5-01-14.
Projects are expected to address either a) inland waterway transport or b) maritime transport applications.
To ensure coverage of both areas, the most highly ranked projects scoring above the minimum threshold will be selected in each area. Subsequent projects will be ranked and selected based upon their scoring. Proposals are expected to clearly indicate if area a) inland waterway transport or area b) maritime transport is the focus of the application.
Project outputs and results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:
- Full scale on board operational demonstration of a sustainable climate-neutral fuel system, including fuel distribution, bunkering, fuels storage, power conversion and possible residue handling, in a realistic on-board operational environment;
- Verifiable KPIs to prove the effectiveness, viability, and impact of the demonstrated solutions;
- KPIs to be demonstrated include: ship power optimisation; bunkering specificity (equipment, safety, operations, flowrate); energy consumption efficiency in waterborne transport; reduction of the global emission of GHGs; life-cycle GHG emissions on a well-to-wake assessment basis and reduction of the air pollution emissions (notably SOx, NOx, CO, PM, black carbon) in a range of operating scenarios.
- Accelerated transition to climate-neutral or zero-emission maritime and inland ship operations, by facilitating the wider adoption of sustainable climate neutral fuels at a larger scale and for vessels requiring prolonged autonomy. Particularly focusing on fuels where significant on-board challenges remain, with consideration of the specific supply chain requirements to satisfy the needs of maritime transport and inland navigation, in particular shipping activities with frequent cargo handling operations.
- Demonstrated possibilities from smart digitalisation, to facilitate the on-board use of sustainable climate neutral waterborne fuels.
- Demonstrate achievement of the 2040 targets specified within the European Commission proposal for a Fuel EU Maritime regulation reference COM/2021/562.
Further Information:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-cl5-2023-d5-01-12;callCode=null;freeTextSearchKeyword=;matchWholeText=true;typeCodes=1,2,8;statusCodes=31094502;programmePeriod=2021%20-%202027;programCcm2Id=43108390;programDivisionCode=null;focusAreaCode=null;destinationGroup=null;missionGroup=null;geographicalZonesCode=null;programmeDivisionProspect=null;startDateLte=null;startDateGte=null;crossCuttingPriorityCode=null;cpvCode=null;performanceOfDelivery=null;sortQuery=startDate;orderBy=asc;onlyTenders=false;topicListKey=topicSearchTablePageState