SBM Offshore inaugurated the first green hydrogen pontoon on Monday 19 February.
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Take a stroll around the Monaco Yacht Club marina and you’re sure to spot a rather unusual little floating structure. Covered in solar panels, the pontoon produces green hydrogen from renewable sources. The SBM E-Racing team will be using the hydrogen it produces during the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge,
The prototype “captures solar energy” and stores it “so that it can produce at night and convert into electricity.” The electrical energy then powers “an electrolyser that breaks down the water molecule to produce hydrogen, and a compressor that compresses the hydrogen into bottles,” Patrick Ferri, SBM Offshore’s Project Manager explained to Monaco Info.
The innovation is part of SBM Offshore’s commitment to being “a player in the energy transition,” said Francesco Prazzo, Managing Director at SBM Offshore. “We have been operating in the traditional energy sector for several years now. We’ve started to develop products in this field [renewable energies] and so we’re very much in a research phase, looking at all the new energies that could be part of it,” he added on state television.
These high-tech inventions are in phase with the Principality’s commitment to the energy transition. “Monaco is always at the cutting edge of technology and tries to contribute to the development of yachting,” said Bernard d’Alessandri, Secretary and General Manager of the Yacht Club de Monaco.
