GE Power Conversion and Partners Achieve Milestones

GE Power Conversion is marking the success of two innovation projects aimed at reducing maritime greenhouse gas emissions.

GE is helping to make progress towards net zero operations for ship and port operators through cleaner power systems and digital energy management.   At sea and on land, its electric microgrid systems can host the integration of new energy sources and smarter digital and control technologies as they develop.

GE’s projects, part of the UK’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, benefitted from partners’ vessel and port applications to accelerate solutions based on ‘real-world’ scenarios.   

Power and energy specialists GE have been working on the integration of multi-megawatt (MW) solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems into a large ship architecture with partners Ceres, Lloyd’s Register, and MSC Cruise Management (UK) Ltd.

The team’s efforts resulted in a major milestone – a collaborative design for up to 10MW onboard solid oxide fuel cell power installations.  At this scale, systems are able to provide electric power for large ships and replace conventional diesel generating sets.  The system has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 47%, and significantly improve air quality and noise pollution when ships are in port. SOFC has the benefit of being able to operate on different types of new, cleaner fuels, a benefit as ship operators look to accommodate the transition to future fuels.

GE has also been working on reducing emissions at ports by helping to manage power and energy more efficiently.  With project partners, PD Ports  Ltd, Connected Places Catapult, and Teesside University, GE’s cloud-based, the integrated digital concept aim to improve situational awareness of energy supply and demand.  Benefitting from PD Ports’ data has enabled the team to create operational scenarios to carry out testing using an emulated digital twin platform. Digital energy management is part of GE Power Conversion’s range of Port Electrification solutions.

GE Power Conversion’s Managing Director in the UK, Andy Cooper, said: “Industry is investing in ‘clean ship’ and ‘clean port’ technology readiness, but it’s really important we work with customers on their operational needs if the path to net-zero is to be viable. Congratulations to the teams on making impressive progress towards potential commercialization”.

About Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition

GE’s projects with its partners have been part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) launched in March 2021, funded by the UK government Department for Transport, and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of the CMDC, the Department allocated more than £23 million to 55 projects supported by 208 organizations from across the UK.

The CMDC was announced as part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan to position the UK at the forefront of clean maritime technologies and reduce emissions from the sector. The CMDC is supporting the research, design, and development of zero-emission vessel and infrastructure solutions to enable clean technologies to commercialize and accelerate the decarbonization of the maritime sector. The program is funding projects from across the entire UK, including in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as from the South West to the North East of England. We are proud to be part of a competition that supports UK innovators to achieve Net-Zero.

About GE Power Conversion

GE Power Conversion applies the science and systems of power conversion to help drive the electric transformation of the world’s energy infrastructure. Designing and delivering advanced motor, drive, and control technologies that evolve today’s industrial processes for a cleaner, more productive future, it serves specialized sectors such as energy, marine, industry, and all related services. https://www.gepowerconversion.com/

About GE

GE drives the world forward by tackling its biggest challenges. By combining world-class engineering with software and analytics, GE helps the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of the industry, and today it leads to new paradigms in additive manufacturing, materials science, and data analytics. GE people are global, diverse, and dedicated, operating with the highest integrity and passion to fulfill GE’s mission and deliver for our customers. www.ge.com