Electrive writes that, besides the hydrogen fuel cell system, engineers at Corvus Energy are also working on an application which can intelligently use the energy from the fuel cells or the the back-up batteries, called CoPilot. As per Corvus officials, the newly developed hydrogen system represents "a significant leap forward in safe, clean, and efficient power generation for marine vessels".

No technical specifications were made public, although the Toyota-made system has been initially reported to be modular, meaning it can be adapted to the needs of each vessel.

The two companies began working on the project back in 2021 and with the successful development of this fuel cell propulsion system, they can expect production to begin in 2024.

Geir Bjørkeli, CEO of Corvus Energy, said that "our mission is to power a clean future, and through the years, we have been pioneers on a lot of different vessel types. However, batteries cannot take us all the way. If you want to sail zero-emission, you will need to bring clean energy in a different format. We strongly believe hydrogen is the natural choice for shorter and medium-distance routes as this is the most energy-efficient way."

Photo source: Corvus Energy