Will Hydrogen Buses and Coaches Make Good Rail Replacement Buses?
My near-twenty-mile-ride in a Wrightbus hydrogen-powered bus yesterday, got me thinking.
I believe they would make excellent Rail Replacement Buses.
- The 280 mile range would allow them to both deploy over a l long distance to an incident or cover over a hundred miles or more.
- The quality of the interior is more main line train, than suburban bus.
- Every seat has a charging point.
- The performance of the hydrogen-powered bus, should mean that less time is lost and less compensation will be paid.
- This performance could be used to advantage if the rail line being replaced is alongside a motorway.
I feel it could be good PR for train companies, that they are using quality, fast Rail Replacement Buses.
Sutton Station To Gatwick Airport By Hydrogen-Powered Bus
In Central London and Gatwick Airport For Free On A Freedom Pass, I indicated it was possible to go to Gatwick Airport for nothing, if you had a Freedom Pass, which is also a free bus pass for England.
This morning I took public transport to Gatwick Airport by this route.
- I took a 43 bus to London Bridge station.
- This bus terminates in the bus station in front of the train station, so it was a simple step-free entry into the part of the station, where Southern Trains terminate.
- I took a Southern Train to Sutton station.
- I then took a Metrobus 420 bus from Sutton station to Gatwick Airport.
These pictures show the journey.
Note.
- The bus stop is directly outside the entrance to Sutton station.
- Sutton station is step-free.
- The information on the Metrobus’s buses at Sutton station is poor.
- The bus had a 74 number plate, so was registered after September 1st, 2024.
- The bus said it was a hydrogen bus.
- The seats were comfortable with leather facings.
- The route was mainly through rural Surrey.
- There were sections of dual-carriageway road with continuous 40 mph running.
- There were a number of steep hills.
- Previously, I have been told by a Bradford Councillor, that the City of Bradford is going for hydrogen-powered buses , as the city has lots of steep hills.
- The unusual Reigate and Redhill War Memorial on the A25.
- The route goes past Hadworth, Reigate and Redhill stations.
- Just before Gatwick Airport, the bus called at East Surrey Hospital.
I have some thoughts.
Does This Hydrogen Bus Have Almost The Quality Passengers Would Expect From A Coach?
Consider.
- I was very impressed with the quality of the bus and its fittings.
- But its biggest assets were the ride and mouse-quiet noise and being vibration-free.
- It was certainly up there, with the best British buses on UK roads.
- Strangely, I never rode in any of London’s Green Line coaches of the 1950s and 1960s.
But as Wrightbus are selling hydrogen-powered single-decker buses to the Germans, the quality must be of a certain standard.
The Performance Of The Bus
I would sum up the bus as follows.
- The bus didn’t hang around and it was well-driven.
- On much of the dual-carriageway, the bus appeared to be at the maximum speed limit of 40 mph
- Ride and seats were comfortable.
- There was virtually no vibration.
- At times, you almost felt you were in a top-of-the-range coach.
- The running gear is from German company ZF, which certainly doesn’t hinder the ride.
- The journey from Sutton to Gatwick Airport is twenty miles and took about ninety minutes.
I would feel that if Wrightbus design their CoachH2 chassis to the same standard of this bus, they’ll have a difficulty to meet sales demand.
Wrightbus Hydrogen Buses For My Local Bus Route 141
Consider.
- The 141 bus route is my local bus, which gets me to Moorgate, Bank, London Bridge and Manor House.
- The length of the full route is twenty miles and it takes about an hour to go from London Bridge station to Palmers Green.
- The route is currently run by older Wrightbus hybrid diesel-electric buses.
- I suspect that modern hydrogen buses could last almost all day on one fill of hydrogen, with perhaps a top-up at lunchtime.
They would have no difficulty handling the route and would greatly increase the customers current rock-bottom satisfaction.
Hydrogen Buses In Leafy Suburbs
- Where I live, is not particularly leafy or a suburb.
- But I seems to remember, when I moved here, that some of my neighbours complained about the noise of the 76 bus route.
- So Transport for London put on some quieter buses.
I would expect, that Metrobus might use the mouse quieter hydrogen buses in post areas, to avoid annoyance.
Hydrogen Buses As Route Extenders
Effectively, the Metrobus route 420 is acting as a route extender for Southern and Thameslink services coming South from London.
As it is a quality bus, that gets a move on, I suspect that some travellers, who previously took a train to Sutton, Tadworth, Reigate, Redhill or other stations and were then picked up, may take a hydrogen bus to a more convenient bus stop.
Because of the long range of a hydrogen bus or coach, zero-carbon performance, should be achieved without any range anxiety for passengers, driver or bus company.
Onward From Oakhampton Parkway Station
Consider.
- In 2014, storms destroyed the railway at Dawlish in Devon.
- As there was no alternative route, the storms cut everything west of Dawlish off from the rest of the UK.
- It is now likely, that a Park-and-Ride station will be built close to Okehanpton, which commuters would use for travel to Exeter.
- The main road to the South-West ; the A 30 will pass nearby.
It would appear, that Okehampton Interchange station could be used, if Nepture decided to show his power again.
Hopefully, the emergency plan will scare Nepture away.
Lumo To The Scottish Borders
Consider.
- Lumo have applied to extend some of their Edinburgh services to Glasgow.
- Talking to a friend in the Scottish Borders, they said, that travelers drive to Newcastle or Morpeth to catch Lumo for London.
- Four or five Lumo services every day stop in each direction at Morpeth station.
- So would it be sensible to run a bus or coach through the Scottish Borders to connect with the Lumo services?
This Google Map shows Morpeth in relation to the Border towns.
Note.
- Morpeth is marked by the red arrow in the South-East corner of the map.
- Galashiels, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh, Peebles, Saint Boswells and Selkirk can be picked out on the map.
- The coach service would probably terminate at Galashiels, as it has a large bus terminal and and a railway station.
- Click the map to show it to a larger scale.
Morpeth to Galashiels is 69 miles and it should take about an hour and a half.
Hydrogen Buses As Rail Replacement Buses
Consider.
- I have had Rail Replacement Coaches as opposed to buses a few times in the UK.
- Once on the East Coast Main Line but usually on the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich or Norwich.
- They are generally more suited to their task. as they are faster and more luxurious.
- Many of our major rail lines run alongside trunk roads or motorways or fast dual carriageways.
So because hydrogen buses and coaches a have superior performance, than their diesel cousins, will hydrogen be the better fuel for a Rail Replacement Bus.
Metrobus’s Hydrogen Buses
This press release on the Metrobus web site is entitled Hydrogen Buses.
This is the sub-heading.
Our commitment to Zero Emissions
As part of our commitment to reducing emissions, twenty new hydrogen fuelled buses will operate on Fastway routes 10 & 20. These new buses demonstrate an ongoing commitment to reducing our local emissions. They deliver against science-based targets set by Metrobus and its parent company, The Go-Ahead Group, of becoming a net zero business by 2045 and decarbonising our bus fleet by 2035.
Conclusion
This bus is the best I’ve ridden in.
The End Of EVs Has Come, And It’s Toyota’s Fault – They’re Going To Change Everything, And It’s Going To Be Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on El Diario 24.
These are the first two paragraphs.
The future of environmentally sustainable vehicles appears to be hydrogen based and Toyota is the frontrunner in developing this new technology.
The development of electric battery powered vehicles was a gamechanger for the industry and signified the first big shift since the introduction of fossil fuel powered vehicles all those years back. The current downside to electric vehicle, is of course, charging times as well as infrastructure to support charging stations. Japanese automaker, Toyota, has decided to switch lanes on the road to sustainability by investing research and funds into the development of a hydrogen powered system. This model has great potential in terms of environmental sustainability and user-friendliness but are the initial roll outs proving to be a success?
The article is from Argentina, which is a big country and range and charging could be a bigger factor, than in some countries.
But then Ricardo take a similar view to Toyota on hydrogen.
I also believe that hydrogen internal combustion engines will provide an alternative route to affordable zero-carbon vehicles, that are of all sizes.
I’m with Toyota on this one and the article is a must read.
CoacH2 – The Next Generation Coach
This page on the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK web site is entitled CoacH2 – Next Generation Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Coach Powertrain Demonstrator.
This is the sub-heading.
Accelerating the development of zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell electric coaches, with a full on-vehicle technology demonstrator.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Coaches are an integral part of the public transport network, with over 30,000 diesel coaches operating across the UK and Ireland. Due to the specific demands of coach operation (motorway driving, long-range, high passenger and luggage loading capacity) decarbonisation options for this sector are extremely limited with hydrogen fuel-cell technology considered the most viable choice. This project will tackle this difficult to decarbonise sector by developing, testing and validating an innovative hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain suitable for coach applications.
Delivered by a Northern Irish consortium spanning OEM, coach operator and academia, CoacH2 will accelerate the development of zero-emission, fuel-cell electric coaches, with a full on-vehicle technology demonstrator to be manufactured and showcased at Cenex Expo 2024.
As I indicated in British Buses For British Bottoms, Wrightbus build a good well-built, smooth-riding and comfortable bus, so now they can add hydrogen-powered coaches to the product range.
This press release on the Wrightbus web site is entitled Wrightbus Coach Demonstrator Unveiled At Cenex Expo, gives more information on CoacH2.
- The demonstrator has a power of 300 Kw.
- It has a range of 1,000 km. on one refueling.
- An internet search reveals a launch date of 2026 for the hydrogen-powered coach.
I wonder, if this will be the killer application for hydrogen-powered road transport.
Central London and Gatwick Airport For Free On A Freedom Pass
I have always found it odd, that I can get to Heathrow Airport for free on my Freedom Pass, but for Gatwick Airport, I must buy a ticket.
Not that I’m bothered about the price of the ticket, but for some it might mean that they can’t get to their preferred holiday destination, as planes only fly from Heathrow.
The different treatment of the two airports must also annoy some airport and airline owners and bosses.
But recently, a free route for London’s Freedom Pass holders has opened.
This article on Inside Croydon is entitled Metrobus Rolls Out Zero-Emission Hydrogen Fleet Into Sutton.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Metrobus has been rolling out a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses, and last week its first double deckers, operating the 420 route from Sutton town centre to Gatwick Airport and Crawley, were brought into service.
Metrobus is planning on having more than 40 hydrogen-powered buses, in a partnership with West Sussex, Surrey and Kent county councils and Gatwick, in a £24million investment by the partners including a £10 million grant from the Department for Transport.
Note.
- The range of a Wrightbus Hydroliner is 280 miles on a full tank of hydrogen.
- It looks like as Crawley to Sutton station is a 42.2 miles round trip, so that means six round trips are possible on a tank of hydrogen.
- The Hydroliners may have the speed to use the M23 between Sutton and Crawley.
According to the article, refueling would be at Crawley.
A Zero-Carbon Extension To The Freedom Pass Zone
The free route for Freedom Pass holders to Gatwick Airport will be.
- Southern or Thameslink Train to Sutton.
- 420 bus to Gatwick Airport.
The article says this about the routes that are being planned.
The 420 route runs from Sutton town centre, through Belmont and Banstead, to Tadworth and then on to Reigate and Redhill, serving East Surrey Hospital before going on to the airport and Crawley. Metrobus is planning to use other hydrogen-powered buses on routes that will serve Caterham, Dorking, Tunbridge Wells, Haywards Heath and Brighton.
It appears that the hydrogen buses will add a large zero-carbon area to the Freedom Pass zone.
The only new infrastructure, would be the refueling equipment at Crawley.
I can also see the buses becoming an unusual tourist attraction for the area.
An Extension To An Electric Railway Or Tramway
They may also set a precedent for how a transport network can be extended in a zero-carbon manner from a tram or rail terminal served by an electric railway or tramway.
Battery electric buses could be used, but their range means that on anything but the shortest routes, they would constantly need recharging.
Okehampton Interchange Station
The first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for Okehampton Interchange station describes it like this.
Okehampton Interchange (formerly known as Okehampton Parkway) is a proposed railway station in Okehampton on the Dartmoor Line. The station would be part of the Devon Metro and has been described as a priority station. The station is to be sited off Exeter Road, by the Business Park and close to the junction with the A30, in the Stockley Hamlet area of Okehampton. It would also serve 900 new homes to be built nearby.
But I believe that Okehampton Interchange station also has another purpose.
If the sea should destroy the coastal railway, as it did a few years ago, then passengers for the South-West could be ferried to and from Okehampton Interchange station by high-speed hydrogen-powered coaches along the A30, to catch trains to Exeter and London.
So, I would build a hydrogen filling station at Okehampton Interchange station, so that if the sea destroys the coastal railway again, the alternative is ready.
Normally, the hydrogen filling station would refuel local hydrogen buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles and those passing on the A30 to and from Cornwall.
Okehampton Interchange station would be the ultimate extension to an electric railway. Even if the Dartmoor Railway was worked by electro-diesel trains.
Ricardo’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Module Successfully Reaches Full Power
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from Ricardo.
This is the sub-heading.
Ricardo, a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company, today announces a significant milestone in clean energy innovation with its new high-powered, multi-stack hydrogen fuel cell module technology successfully reaching 393kW of net electrical power, achieved within three months development from initial start-up.
These are the first two paragraphs.
This achievement was made possible due to Ricardo’s virtual engineering toolchain, which reduces physical prototyping costs and risks, accelerates development timelines, and provides a deeper understanding of system behaviours under diverse conditions.
Initially developed as part of the Sustainable Hydrogen Powered Shipping (sHYpS) Horizon Europe project for the maritime sector, Ricardo’s multi-stack hydrogen fuel cell module is designed to deliver high energy output with zero emissions. Its modular architecture integrates multiple fuel cell stacks to provide unmatched power density, and scalability while meeting the evolving energy demands of diverse applications, such as maritime, stationary power generation, rail and off-highway.
It certainly looks like Ricardo have developed a heavy end hydrogen fuel cell, that can be applied to a range of applications, in a very short time. Now that’s what I call world class engineering.
The last paragraph of the press release indicates what is possible.
To support the adoption of hydrogen technology, Ricardo has also developed a containerised solution, able to combine multiple fuel cell modules, enabling power output to be scaled up to 3MW per container, with the DC-DC power conversion on board, all without sacrificing efficiency or durability. When scaled up to incorporate multiple fuel cell modules housed within two bespoke containers, a total net electrical plant output of 6MW can be delivered. This is sufficient to power a 50,000 tonne 1,000 passenger cruise ship through important zero-emission mission cycles.
Although, this family of fuel cells, was originally developed for maritime applications, as an example of the flexibility of the system, it would surely be applicable for replacing any diesel engine from 2 MW upwards in a large number of rail, stationary and on and off-road applications.
This picture shows one of several hundred Class 66 locomotives on UK railways.
As they have an electric transmission, the 2 MW diesel engine could be fairly easily changed for a hydrogen fuel-cell of an appropriate size.
Scotch Whisky Is In A Unique Position
Scotland has so much zero-carbon energy now, let alone in a few years, that Scotch whisky would not be the most difficult of industries to make completely zero-carbon, which could marketing-wise completely trump any tariffs, that Trummkopf might impose.
- Already some small distilleries are using hydrogen to distill the whisky.
- Some glass bottles are already made using hydrogen instead of natural gas to make zero-carbon malt whiskies.
- I’m sure Cummins in Darlington, JCB in Rocester and Ricardo in Sussex will be pleased to help make farm machinery, mechanical handling and road transport zero carbon.
- Soft fruit like raspberries are already used to absorb the carbon dioxide from the distillation process in some areas of Scotland. I’m sure dealing with more quality raspberries would not be a problem.
- A large electrolyser is planned for Kintore in the North of Scotland. Think of the good publicity for say Centrica or SSE, if they built the world’s largest hydrogen plant to help make zero-carbon whisky.
These are some more thoughts.
Taste Is Everything
As only the method of providing heat and electricity will have been changed, I can’t see there will be any change to the taste.
It’s Already Happening
This page on the Annandale Distillery web site is entitled Annandale Distillery Pioneers Zero-Carbon Whisky Production with EXERGY 3 Project.
The Kintore Electrolyser
These figures summarise the Kintore Electrolyser.
- Total Electrolyser Capacity – 3 GW
- First Phase – 500 MW
- Hydrogen – 200 kTonnes per year
Explore the Kintore Hydrogen web site.
Marketing Advantage
Scotland, is probably, the only country, where the main ingredients for whisky come together in abundance ; barley, energy, tradition and water.
It also is all produced in a single country in many different brands and types, which could all be produced in a zero-carbon manner.
Conclusion
Let’s give Trump a beating and the planet a kiss.
North Sea Oil Group Equinor Scales Back Investment In Renewables
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Equinor, which is attempting to develop one of the largest untapped oilfields in UK waters, also raised its fossil fuel production targets
This is the first paragraph.
The Norwegian state-backed oil company that is attempting to develop one of the largest untapped oil fields in UK waters, has dramatically scaled back its investment in renewables and raised its fossil fuel production targets, becoming the latest of the world’s energy giants to row back on the push towards green power.
A quiet revolution is happening that will change our use of natural gas very much for the better.
- In Rhodesia, which is a suburb of Worksop, a 24 MW Rolls-Royce mtu diesel peaker power plant, that runs on natural gas, but is also hydrogen-ready, has been installed to boost the electricity supply. The diesel engine is fitted with carbon capture and produces food-grade CO2, which is sold for food and engineering uses.
- Most of the excellent British tomatoes and soft fruit, we have been eating this winter, is grown in greenhouses, heated by natural gas-powered combined heat and power units, where the CO2 produced is captured and fed to the plants.
- HiiROC is a start-up from Hull, who are backed by Centrica, who use a plasma process to split any hydrocarbon gas including waste gas from a chemical plant, biomethane from a sewage works or natural gas into pure hydrogen and carbon black, which is needed to manufacture tyres and other products, and also to improve soil.
- In the last few months, a HiiROC device has been installed at Brigg power station, to generate zero-carbon electricity from natural gas.
- Imagine a housing or factory estate, a farm or perhaps a large country house, that wants to decarbonise. The gas feed to the property would be fitted with a HiiROC device and all gas appliances and boilers would be converted to hydrogen.
- I also believe that houses and other premises could have their own hydrogen pumps to fill up cars, ride-on mowers and other vehicles.
- Avnos is a company from the US, that captures CO2 from the air. What makes Avnos unique is that for every ton of CO2 it captures, it captures five tons of pure water.
More ideas like these are being developed.
What is wrong in using natural gas, to generate heat and electricity, if it doesn’t emit any CO2 into the atmosphere?
I suspect, that Equinor believe there will be a market for natural gas for years, as more and more clever ways to use it and turn it into hydrogen are developed.
Ministers Will Relax Rules To Build Small Nuclear Reactors
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Britain’s five nuclear power stations, which generate about 6GW in total, powering 13 million homes, are all nearing the end of their lives
These first three paragraphs indicate the reasons why, the government wants to relax the rules.
Ministers are preparing to relax planning rules to make it easier to build mini nuclear power plants in more parts of the country in order to hit green energy targets and boost the industry.
They are also examining whether it is possible to streamline the process for approving the safety of new nuclear power plants as a way to reduce construction delays.
At present rules state that only the government may designate sites for potential nuclear power stations, of which there are eight, severely limiting where they can be built.
The article includes a vote and surprisingly to me, the vote embedded in the article, shows 92 % in favour of relaxing the rules and only 8 % against.
I must admit these figures surprise me, as I’d have thought more would have been against.
Certain Words Frighten The Public
It is because nuclear is one of those words, that I felt that the vote in favour would have been much lower.
Regular readers of this blog will know, that in the 1960s,, I worked for ICI doing itinerant computing and instrumentation tasks, in my first job after leaving Liverpool University with a degree in Control Engineering.
I can now classify the experience as a superb apprenticeship, where I learned a lot that has been useful to me in later life.
For a time, I was working on nuclear magnefic resonance or NMR scans. ICI Mond Division in Runcorn had one of the best installations for analysing chemicals using this technique, which is described in this Wikipedia entry, which starts with these sentences.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus. This process occurs near resonance, when the oscillation frequency matches the intrinsic frequency of the nuclei, which depends on the strength of the static magnetic field, the chemical environment, and the magnetic properties of the isotope involved; in practical applications with static magnetic fields up to ca. 20 tesla, the frequency is similar to VHF and UHF television broadcasts (60–1000 MHz).
One day, the Senior Scientist, who ran the machine came in to work and announced that the property of nuclear magnetic resonance would be replacing X-rays, as the technology had just been used to give a three-dimensional image of something like the tail of a mouse.
Now fifty-five years later, many if not most of us have had MRi scans.
The Wikipedia entry for Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRi, explains, what happened to the dreaded N-word.
MRI was originally called NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging), but “nuclear” was dropped to avoid negative associations.
Perhaps, it would be easier to build nuclear power stations, if the level of science teaching in the UK was better.
The Three Paragraphs In Detail
Earlier, I copied three paragraphs from The Times, into this post.
I shall now look at each in detail.
Paragraph 1
Ministers are preparing to relax planning rules to make it easier to build mini nuclear power plants in more parts of the country in order to hit green energy targets and boost the industry.
I was in Suffolk, when the planning of Sizewell B was undertaken.
There appeared to be little strong opposition, but the general feeling was what there was from second home owners, who were worried that the value of their holiday home would decline.
Employment and commerce created by Sizewell B was certainly good for the area in lots of ways.
At the time, my late wife; C was practicing as a family barrister in chambers in Ipswich. She believed that the building of Sizewell B had had a good effect on the area, as it had injected work and money, which had created the finance to allow a couple to end a marriage, that had long since died. She stated a couple of times, that Sizewell B was good for her practice.
Paragraph 2
They are also examining whether it is possible to streamline the process for approving the safety of new nuclear power plants as a way to reduce construction delays.
My worry about streamlining the process for approving safety, is that we approve nuclear power stations so rarely, do we have the qualified personnel to replace elapsed time with people. I would suggest that we don’t.
But we could have.
- We have some excellent universities, where Nuclear Engineering can be studied.
- How many personnel leave the Royal Navy each year, who could be trained as nuclear safety inspectors?
- If say Rolls-Royce and/or Hitachi are building several small modular nuclear reactors a year in the UK, then nuclear engineering will become fashionable, as electronics was for my generation of engineers and it will attract the brightest students.
Perhaps an established university, with access to the needed skills should be funded to set up a Nuclear Safety Institute
Paragraph 3
At present rules state that only the government may designate sites for potential nuclear power stations, of which there are eight, severely limiting where they can be built.
I can envisage new small modular nuclear reactors being built in the UK, where there is a need for lots of electricity to support developments like.
- Offshore wind farms
- Data centres
- Green steelmaking
- Metal refining
- Hydrogen production.
Rolls-Royce have said that their small reactors will be around 470 MW, so I could imagine power stations of this size being placed on disused coal-fired power station sites to boost power in an area. I have already suggested building some on Drax in The Future Of Drax Power Station.
In some locations, the choice could be between a small modular nuclear reactor and some form of energy storage.
Powering Germany
But there is one controversial area, where we can take advantage.
- The Germans are very short of electricity because of their reliance on coal and Russian gas that needs to be replaced.
- The 1.4 GW NeuConnect interconnector is being built by European and Japanese money between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven.
- The AquaVentus hydrogen system could be extended to Humberside to link with UK hydrogen production and storage.
- A couple of small modular nuclear reactors could be built on Humberside to back up hydrogen production, when the wind isn’t blowing.
But Rolls-Royce and other companies have been putting small nuclear reactors close to the sea bed safely for decades, so why no design an offshore reactor that can be placed at a safe distance offshore?
We would need to solve the Putin and friends problem first, but I can see the UK exporting a lot of electricity and hydrogen produced by nuclear energy.
Rolls-Royce Powers World’s Fastest Offshore Crew Transfer Vessels
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Rolls-Royce.
These three bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- Sea trials demonstrate maximum speed exceeding 53 knots under operational load.
- Each of the three ships is powered by four 16-cylinder mtu Series 2000 engines.
- 35-meter ships are designed as “Surface Effect Ships” (SES)
This is the introductory paragraph.
The Singapore shipbuilder Strategic Marine has commissioned three new offshore supply vessels that, with a maximum speed of over 53 knots, are the fastest of their kind in the world. Each vessel is powered by four 16-cylinder mtu Series 2000M72 engines from Rolls-Royce. The vessels will be used by a national oil company in Africa for passenger transfer to offshore platforms. To enable fast and safe transfer, the 35-meter-long vessels were designed as so-called “Surface Effect Ships”.
This Rolls-Royce image shows one of the Crew Transfer Vessels at 50 knots.
On a slightly different tack, this Rolls-Royce image shows The Spirit of Innovation.
Rolls-Royce described it in this press release which is entitled ‘Spirit of Innovation’ Stakes Claim To Be The World’s Fastest All-Electric Vehicle, using these words.
During its record-breaking runs, the aircraft clocked up a maximum speed of 623 km/h (387.4 mph) which we believe makes the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ the world’s fastest all-electric vehicle.
I’ve probably been over 1,300 mph in Concorde.
So are the three offshore supply vessels, the fastest of their kind in the world?
This video shows one of the Crew Transfer Vessels doing, what they are intended to do.
Rolls-Royce seem to be borrowing a philosophy from their past, where they showed in the Schneider Trophy, just what their engines could do.
These two paragraphs describe the design of the Crew Transfer Vessels.
To enable fast and safe passenger transfer to offshore platforms, the 35-meter-long vessels have been designed as so-called “Surface Effect Ships” (SES). SES uses air-cushion technology within a catamaran hull form. This design was used for the first time in the offshore oil and gas industry.
The boats have an optimized power-to-weight ratio and use powerful fans to generate an air cushion between the hulls that minimizes hull drag and resistance. Combined with the mtu propulsion package (each delivering 5,760 kW of power), the vessels can travel at much higher speeds than conventional monohulls and catamarans, with consumption remaining at the same per hour of operations. The high speed of well over 50 knots (more than 90 km/h) ensures shorter transit times, while the low hull resistance saves fuel and reduces emissions.
I believe, that the Rolls-Royce mtu diesel engines used in these vessels can also be fueled by hydrogen, so is that the next development?
Could we be seeing hydrogen-powered fast ferries on short sea routes around the world?
The Anonymous Widower 