World’s First Hydrogen Boat

Bramble Energy have recently achieved what will likely to a history-defining moment in the marine world, with the launch of the world’s first hydrogen-electric boat, powered by a printed circuit board fuel cell (PCBFC™).

As the lead partner in the HyTime project, Bramble Energy, in collaboration with custom engine builder Barrus, unveiled the prototype vessel to demonstrate the huge potential of PCBFC™ to quickly and cost-effectively decarbonise the marine industry.

The 57ft narrowboat was launched in Sheffield, Yorkshire. It successfully completed testing, emissions-free, using a custom marinised fuel cell system. This fuel cell setup has the potential to provide the boat with a range of approximately 600 miles; coming from its 14kg onboard hydrogen storage, with additional power from solar panels on the boat’s roof feeding into the 22kWh battery system.

Securing close to £1 million in Government funding from BEIS (now the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero – DESNZ) in 2022, Bramble Energy got to work on the development of its hydrogen fuel cell technology, which could be a replacement for diesel engines in boats.

Built in Sheffield, Bramble engineers created a brand new hydrogen system tailored to meet marine standards. This technology holds the potential to save up to 12 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year for each vessel using it.

The maritime industry contributes a staggering 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually, accounting for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gases. To address this, the Clean Maritime Plan mandates new vessels to possess zero-emission capabilities starting in 2025. This project aimed to showcase how the adoption of hydrogen as a fuel source could aid this transition, extending the range of pure battery systems while eliminating dependence on fixed charging infrastructure.

Tom Mason, co-founder and CEO of Bramble Energy said: “While road transportation has arguably had the greatest amount of attention in terms of developing zero-emission solutions, the reality is there is a massive urgency to decarbonise across all transportation sectors – especially marine. CO₂ emissions from the marine sector are staggering. It requires a quick, convenient, cost-effective technology that also provides no compromise when it comes to performance.

In a short amount of time, we have designed, developed, built and launched a working demonstration of our PCBFC™ technology within a marine application. Our solution has the ability to meet a range of power needs and is easily scalable, which is the exact catalyst the industry needs to make a seamless shift to hydrogen to quickly meet emissions regulations and contribute to greener and cleaner waterways.”