Recently, Minister Harbers, of Infrastructure and Water Management, officially started the construction of the ms Antonie, the first inland vessel in the Netherlands that will be powered entirely on green hydrogen. The ship is expected to be ready to sail in mid-2023. The project is a collaboration between Nedstack, Nobian, Lenten Scheepvaart, Concordia Damen, Energy TransStore and inland shipping cooperative NPRC, and contributes to the realization of completely emission-free inland shipping.
Example project
The propulsion of an electric inland vessel on hydrogen is completely new and a demo project for Dutch inland shipping. The construction of the Antonie therefore contributes to the further development of technology on board ships. This applies, among other things, to the fuel cells used, with which the hydrogen can be converted into electricity. The parties involved also want to use the project to speed up regulations to stimulate the use of hydrogen in inland shipping.
The experience gained during the development phase, construction and commissioning of ms Antonie will help determine the feasibility and cost of similar projects in the future. With the project, it is possible to map out what is needed in terms of regulations and facilities to be able to safely use hydrogen on a larger scale in inland shipping.
Greening of inland shipping
The costs for the construction and development of the first 135m long hydrogen-electric inland vessel are approximately twice that of a conventional vessel. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is therefore making a substantial contribution to bear the extra costs. Nobian, NPRC and Lenten shipping have made long-term agreements for the deployment of the ship. The ministry sees the project as an important part of achieving the European goal that all inland shipping should be emission-free by 2.
Minister Harbers recently gave the official starting signal for the construction of the Antonie in the presence of inland shipping entrepreneur Harm Lenten, the CEO of NPRC, Femke Brenninkmeijer, and Nobian CEO, Michael Koenig. This happened symbolically by handing over an artist's impression of the ship to be built to the minister.
Green hydrogen for salt transport
When the Antonie is ready, the ship will transport salt for Nobian, the industrial chemical branch of AkzoNobel that was privatized last year. The ship will transport approximately 3700 tons of salt, the equivalent of 120 trucks, completely emission-free from Delfzijl to the factory in the Botlek in Rotterdam. Nobian is also the producer of the green hydrogen.
The use of hydrogen, generated with green electricity, is completely clean, in contrast to the use of fossil fuels such as diesel. The project thus contributes to the climate objectives, more sustainable transport and greening of inland shipping. In addition to the involvement of Nobian, Lenten Scheepvaart, HyEnergy TransStore and fuel cell producer Nedstack, the project is being supervised by inland shipping cooperative NPRC, which coordinates the supply of salt as a logistics service provider.
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