TU Delft Hydro Motion Team - from Netherlands to England in 2024

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Hydro Motion - H2 from NL to England in 2024

05.04.2024

Hydro Motion - H2 from NL to England in 2024

Hydromotion 2024

The TU Delft Hydro Motion Team wants to cross to England with their new hydrogen powered boat in the summer of 2024.

At the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge in 2023, the previous Hydro Motion Team hydrogen hydrofoil took first place in the Open Sea General Ranking. This was the only boat in the field with hydrogen as fuel - also the only one without certification.

The 23 members of the new Hydro Motion Team wanted to come up with a bigger challenge. This became a hydrofoil that should be able to travel 400 kilometres across the sea with a tank of hydrogen. The students want to cross the Channel to England. With this technical challenge, TU Delft Hydro Motion wants to show the maritime world that hydrogen can be a clean and practical energy source for shipping.

The crossing will take place during calm weather in the first half of July 2024. With an estimated crossing time of 12 hours, night sailing is not necessary. For safety reasons, the hydrogen boat will be accompanied by a larger vessel. The escort also offers the opportunity to change crew enroute.

Seaworthiness is the overarching design theme. The previous boat suffered a leak in high waves and had to be towed back to port. Something like that shouldn't happen on the open sea. That is why a lot of attention will be paid to the hermetic shielding of the electrical system.

OUR HISTORY

Our journey started 18 years ago with the TU Delft Solar Boat Team. In the beginning of the Solar Boat Team, we sailed in inland waters and later on made the switch to the open sea where we became World Champions for the first time in 2019. After proving the application of solar power as an alternative for fossil fuels in the maritime industry, we challenged ourselves to prove the possibility of another green fuel option. In 2020 the Hydro Motion project was born, and the world’s first foiling hydrogen-powered boat was created. This culminated in Hydro Motion conquering the Open Sea Class of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge by becoming World Champions in 2023.

THE PROBLEM

With all this effort, we noticed that the maritime sector was slowly moving towards a more sustainable industry and after all these great accomplishments we asked ourselves what our next step would be? The technology is there. The knowledge is there. All we have to do now is implement it and use it to our benefit, but how ready is the world for a sustainable maritime industry sector right now? During the development of our boats, we have observed that not every waterway or harbour is equipped to support vessels operating on a renewable energy source similar to ours.

OUR SOLUTION

It is time to push for systemic change if we want to make the next step towards a sustainable maritime sector. We are determined to compel companies and governments around the world to amend their legislation, mandating the inclusion of hydrogen-powered vessels and the development of additional infrastructure crucial for the green energy transition. Together with our partners, we will design, build, test and sail a foiling hydrogen-powered boat in just one year. The strength of hydrogen lies in its endurance capacities due to its high energy density. In order to demonstrate this strength, we focus on the application of hydrogen fuel in seaworthy vessels to cover long distances. To show the capabilities of our boat, we will sail between the Netherlands and the UK.

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