European technology programme · fuel-cell engineering · hydrogen systems
GreenOffshoreTech: Building a European Fuel-Cell Stack for Maritime Propulsion
GreenOffshoreTech took Unleash Future Boats beyond integrating existing zero-emission components.
During the programme, UFB worked directly on the fuel-cell stack itself — developing modular concepts,
learning how the core component could be manufactured and maintained, and connecting propulsion engineering
with a much larger question: how Europe can retain the capability to build strategic clean-energy technology
competitively at home.
01
We did not want the fuel cell to remain a black box
UFB had already developed a battery-electric vessel architecture with hydrogen as a range extender.
GreenOffshoreTech created the space to go deeper. Instead of treating the fuel-cell system as a purchased
component that simply had to be integrated, the team worked on the stack — the core assembly in which
individual fuel cells are combined into a usable power unit.
The project concentrated on stackable fuel-cell modules, digital and AI-supported diagnostics and a modular
system architecture that could be adapted to different vessels. That work produced fundamental engineering
knowledge around stack design, integration, servicing, diagnostics and manufacturability.
Modular fuel-cell units designed to simplify integration, production and maintenance.
Online condition monitoring and AI-supported diagnostics for safe operation and larger fleets.
Battery-electric propulsion combined with hydrogen range extension for longer operating profiles.
02
The engineering problem became an industrial-sovereignty problem
Fuel-cell technology is not constrained by physics alone. Cost, production volume, industrial know-how and
supply chains determine whether a technology can actually be built competitively. UFB therefore framed the
fuel-cell work as an explicitly European industrial question.
The automotive sector offered a useful reference point. BMW’s first-generation fuel-cell drive was supplied
entirely by Toyota; for the iX5 Hydrogen pilot fleet BMW developed the complete fuel-cell system itself while
individual fuel cells continued to come from Toyota. BMW now describes the next generation as a joint
BMW–Toyota development.
If Europe wants strategic clean-energy technology, it also needs a credible way to manufacture it here.
UFB’s answer was not to compete primarily through labour cost or automotive-scale volumes. The team explored
whether modularisation, equal units and highly automated — ultimately robotic — production could change the
economics. The objective was to make a European fuel-cell stack viable for maritime applications even at
volumes far below those of the global automotive industry.
Engelhard also discussed the broader industrial challenge with BMW: how European fuel-cell technology could
become competitive when Asian suppliers already benefit from mature supply chains, substantial experience and
larger production volumes. GreenOffshoreTech gave UFB the opportunity to turn that strategic question into
concrete engineering work.
03
A fuel-cell vessel is useless if the hydrogen cannot reach it
The deeper UFB moved into hydrogen propulsion, the clearer the surrounding system became. A working stack is
only one component. Commercial operation also depends on hydrogen production, distribution, storage,
refuelling infrastructure, regulation and the geography of the vessels themselves.
Around GreenOffshoreTech, UFB’s learning therefore expanded into the hydrogen supply chain. Northern Germany
was particularly relevant: Hamburg was emerging as a hydrogen and maritime-energy hub while the STRING region
was developing a hydrogen corridor from Hamburg toward Scandinavia and Oslo. The corridor connected questions
of production, distribution, refuelling and cross-border infrastructure — exactly the dependencies that a
hydrogen-powered vessel would eventually encounter in operation.
The conversations also moved beyond northern Germany. Metropolitan regions and waterborne cities, including
Venice, entered UFB’s field of view as potential operating environments. What began as propulsion engineering
increasingly became systems architecture for an emerging European hydrogen ecosystem.
Distribution
Storage
Refuelling
Vessel integration
Operation
04
The programme also moved UFB through a much larger network
Engineering during GreenOffshoreTech did not happen only at a desk or in a workshop. Diana S. Engelhard
travelled through the emerging European hydrogen and fuel-cell ecosystem, connecting technical development
with research institutions, industry partners, infrastructure actors and prospective operating regions.
During an exchange at RWTH Aachen, Engelhard met representatives from Singapore’s academic ecosystem.
The relationship developed beyond the original technical conversation: UFB and the institution received a
commemorative friendship recognition, and Engelhard was subsequently invited to a guest professorship in
Singapore.
Those encounters mattered because they continuously tested UFB’s assumptions against other industries,
research environments and regions. The fuel-cell stack was a physical component, but the programme around it
became a mechanism for understanding how technology, manufacturing, infrastructure and institutions would
have to fit together.
GreenOffshoreTech produced engineering knowledge — and quite a few kilometres for UFB’s systems architect.
05
What GreenOffshoreTech actually gave UFB
The value of the programme was larger than a funded development package. It allowed UFB to work on a core
fuel-cell component, deepen its understanding of automated European production and expose the propulsion
architecture to the infrastructure and supply-chain constraints surrounding hydrogen.
The result was not simply another zero-emission vessel concept. UFB left the programme with a substantially
deeper systems understanding of what would be required to design, manufacture, integrate and operate a
European hydrogen-electric maritime powertrain.
Fuel-cell stack development became a practical lesson in industrial resilience:
technology only becomes sovereign when engineering, manufacturing, supply chains and infrastructure can
work together.
