A double hydrogen refuelling at ALBA by NatPower H

NatPower H, a company specialising in the development of solutions for the production, storage and distribution of green hydrogen for the maritime sector, announced the completion of a double hydrogen refuelling of ALBA, Europe’s first hydrogen-powered training vessel. The refuelling was completed at the Port of Fontvieille.

NAT Power H for the first H2 European training vessel

The refuelling took place over two days: on 8 June, 65 kg of hydrogen at 350 bar was refuelled; on 9 June, a further 45 kg was refuelled to reach a total of 110 kg of green hydrogen. The refuelling completed by NatPower will enable the training ship ALBA – 19.95 metres long and 5.60 metres wide, designed for training in fishing and research – to sail with zero emissions for 10 hours.

An operation by NatPower H which follows others already focused on the development of scalable and operational hydrogen fuelling solutions for the nautical world. These projects certainly include: Tullio Abbate Elite 27 H Poseidon, the world’s first hydrogen refuelling carried out on a lake; BGH Chase Boat, the first hydrogen refuelling in Italy on a boat destined for the 37th America’s Cup; and Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2024, with the refuelling of three hydrogen-powered boats during the event that confirmed the readiness of hydrogen.

ALBA’s features in a nutshell

Regarding the technical specifications of the ship ALBA, we would like to emphazise the fact that it is powered by a hybrid (electric-hydrogen) propulsion system, consisting of two 70 kW fuel cells, two 200 kW main engines and two 178 kWh batteries. The hydrogen is stored on board in tanks with a total capacity of 75.6 kg at 350 bar, thus enabling zero-emission sailing and training operations.

The vessel was built to Bureau Veritas standards. ALBA is not only an educational platform, but has also been designed to dramatically reduce both emissions and noise pollution.