The TU Delft Hydro Motion Team have reached their goal of sailing across the North Sea to the United Kingdom. Their boat is now the first ever fully hydrogen-powered boat to cross The Channel.
The crossing was first planned for 8 July, but had to be postponed due to a problem with the electric motor that was discovered during the final technical inspection. It meant the motor had to be replaced with the spare.
Also read: TU Delft Hydro Motion Team conducts first ‘flight’
169-kilometre crossing
On 11 July the next and succesful attempt took place. They left from Breskens at 11 am. At the start, the waves were higher than predicted, but the boat managed well. Unexpectedly, however, a cooling pump broke down, which meant an extra stop in the port of Zeebrugge for a pump exchange.
From there, the journey went relatively smoothly, and the 169-kilometre crossing was completed. The Team were assisted by support vessel SC Emerald of Sima Charters. The boat arrived in Ramsgate at 11.45 pm.
The Hydro Motion Team writes: ‘We have become the first ever fully hydrogen powered boat to sail the North Sea and cross to England. We’re thrilled with our accomplishment and will be celebrating our victory with the team. Some of you know about our ambition to reach London, and while that was a dream, our ultimate goal was to reach England, which we have achieved. Due to the bad weather of today and the limited time our support vessel has, we won’t be continuing further up the coast. While this may be disappointing, we are immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished and hope we’ve shown you what a great team and mission we have!’
Powered by hydrogen
To allow the boat to “fly” over the water, it is equipped with foils that lift the boat from the water once it reaches a speed of 28 km/h. For the foils to be able to do that, the boat needs to be as light as possible. That is why the hull is made from carbon fibre.
The boat has three big cylindrical tanks of hydrogen that are over 2 metres long. Together, they contain about 25 kg of hydrogen. The hydrogen is stored at a pressure of 350 bar. The hydrogen is delivered to a fuel cell, which converts it into electrictity for the boat. The boat is also equipped with 224 small batteries divided over seven modules. These supply extra power when needed, but can also be used to power all electronics on board when the fuel cell is not yet switched on, such as in port.
Also read: VIDEO: TU Delft Hydro Motion Team reveals 2024 design
Details of the 2024 hydrogen boat
- Length: 8.00 metres
- Width: 2.65 metres
- Take-off speed: 28 km/h
- Cruising speed: 40 km/h
- Fuel cell power: 40 kW
- Weight: 1800 kg
- Hydrogen tanks: 3 hydrogen tanks of 8.4 kg H2 each
- Foils: The foils create upward lift. The strut length is 2.07 metres, the wing span is up to 1.7 metres
Picture by the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team.
