Japanese automotive giant Honda has teamed up with a British company called Hypermotive to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-based power generation tailored to marine applications. Engineered by Hypermotive and powered by Honda, the X-M1 fuel cell is ready for adoption across vessels of a wide range of duties and tonnage. Proof of concept trials are planned for 2025 before full-scale deployment. Hypermotive has already developed similar technology for the automotive, commercial vehicle, and rail sectors. “Honda has been focusing on the potential of hydrogen energy since the 1980s, and we are excited to now be collaborating with innovators like Hypermotive to create robust, efficient solutions for a variety of energy and power needs.” said Ingo Nyhues, deputy general manager at Honda Motor Europe, adding: “There is a great opportunity with the maritime industry to demonstrate the performance and efficiency of a hydrogen solution like X-M1, which is a significant step towards achieving carbon neutrality in this sector.” Honda is not the only Japanese car brand looking at fuel cells for shipping. The Corvus Pelican Fuel Cell system was launched last year, developed by by Corvus Energy, Toyota and other partners. In neighbouring South Korea, Hyundai Motor, one of the world’s largest automotive groups, is in the process of commercialising a small-sized maritime fuel cell model with a view to then developing larger systems. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsJapan South Korea