Greener transport and trade

In the GAMMA project European partners develop and convert a bulk carrier to sail on climate-neutral fuels and green power.

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Project

The Gamma project began in January 2024 and will run for five years. The innovation project has received €13 million in support from the European Commission’s Horizon Europe framework programme for innovation.

The total budget is €17 million, and Gamma stands for Green Ammonia and Biomethanol fuel MAritime Vessels and involves 16 partners from Europe:

Verkís (Iceland), ANT Topic (Italy), Fraunhofer (Germany), Aurelia (Netherlands), Ballard (Denmark), Sea Green Engineering (Italy), Energy Cluster Denmark (Denmark), SINTEF (Norway), Solbian (Italy), Amethyste (France), Elkon Elektrik (Turkey), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), ARM Engineering (France), RINA (Germany), Amnis Pura (Portugal) and Dotcom (Italy).

 

The unique technologies

In the GAMMA project companies and researchers from Europe will develop and convert a bulk carrier to sail on climate-neutral fuels and green power.

An innovative fuel system will be installed. Ammonia and green methanol will be bunkered on-to the ship and then converted into hydrogen with cracker and reformer technologies. The hydrogen will be purified and then converted into electricity with a fuel cell, which will be providing electric energy to the vessel and thus replacing the use of the auxiliary generators running on fossil fuel.

In addition to that, the partners have gone further, since part of the energy necessary to convert to hydrogen will be supplied by renewable energy, in this case PV panels, which will be installed on the hatch covers of the bulk carrier.

The green transition

Today, long-distance maritime transport supports 80-90 per cent of all global trade. Therefore, there will be considerable potential for climate-beneficial reductions in converting ocean-going transportation to green fuels. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set a goal for the maritime sector to reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions to around net-zero by 2050.

The five-year GAMMA project will contribute to this, say representatives from the start-up company Aurelia, which specialises in the concept design of climate-friendly vessels.

 

Why GAMMA?

Alex Albertini, CEO, ANT Topic Srl.

“ANT has always been very keen to invest in green technologies. We are pleased to have found like-minded partners to bring new technologies and innovative thinking onboard. The GAMMA project will provide the most advanced vessel’s performances and environmental quality without compromising on operation effectiveness and flexibility of our ships.”

Elena Prato, R&D & Business Developer, Aurelia

“The integration will be based on a trade-off between weight, volume, cost and, above all, safety. Our challenge is to consider how the systems will impact on the current vessel and to maintain safety in all operations. In this project, we will link a range of technical competences across the 16 partners from Europe for the benefit of all.”

Kjartan Due Nielsen, Innovation Manager, Verkís

“We will retrofit a bulk carrier with highly innovative technologies and during a demonstration campaign we will prove that it is possible to replace auxiliary generators with a new fuel system that runs on e-fuels. After proof of concept in GAMMA the next step would be to replace the main engines of a ship for a full energy transition.”

Activities

  • GAMMA at The SMM 2024 in Hamburg

    The GAMMA.EU innovation project will be on stage at SMM Hamburg 2024. The GAMMA partners will be sharing behind the scenes information from an innovative […]

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  • New e-fuels project to make international shipping climate neutral

    Transport and trade on the ocean blue must be made much greener. This is the goal of the new €17 million European GAMMA project, where […]

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Partners