Maritime firm PONANT seeks to transition towards carbon-neutral operations through a collaboration with startup FARWIND Energy.

The partners intend to develop renewable hydrogen-based refueling solutions for ships, thereby advancing the marine industry’s decarbonization efforts.

PONANT and FARWIND Energy have mapped out their collaborative path towards developing and implementing renewable marine hydrogen. This includes joint work on first use-case development and problem-solving for possible technological complications. Their primary objective is to simultaneously accelerate PONANT’s Swap2Zero project and FARWIND’s maiden energy ship by 2030.

Newbuilding and R&D Director at PONANT, Mathieu Petiteau, expressed the significance of the collaboration and the pivotal role of FARWIND’s hydrogen production technology. He highlighted the potential of FARWIND’s production capacity, especially in areas lacking hydrogen production and supply mechanisms.

FARWIND Energy’s Chairman, Arnaud Poitou views the partnership as an opportunity to commercialize their novel renewable energy production technology, designed primarily for maritime transport decarbonization.

FARWIND’s energy ship technology relies on offshore wind to generate electricity, which then converts seawater into hydrogen through electrolysis. Subsequently, the hydrogen serves as a fuel either for on-island uses or for in-sea ship refueling.