Ricardo expands UK hydrogen test facility

Strategic, environmental and engineering consultancy Ricardo has invested in the conversion of an existing building on-site at its £2.5m (US$3.13m) hydrogen test facility at its UK headquarters in Shoreham-by-Sea.

The investment is intended to facilitate the development of testing for large-scale marine engines. According to the company, the conversion will deliver state-of-the-art facilities to support Ricardo’s development of hydrogen and fuel cell services and solutions for global customers.

£2.5m hydrogen test facility

In January 2021, Ricardo announced that it had opened its £2.5m (US$3.13m) hydrogen test facility at its UK headquarters in Shoreham-by-Sea.

Jason Oms O’Donnell, managing director of automotive and industrial at Ricardo, said, “Hydrogen offers a real alternative to supporting decarbonization in several industries, including maritime, commercial vehicles, off-highway and aerospace where the combination of high-value assets, the longevity of fleets and the importance of safe implementation of new technology means that these sectors can be challenging to decarbonize.

“Our expertise and experience in design, development and test of innovative new propulsion systems means that we’re at the forefront of innovation in this area, advising customers, across the whole spectrum of services from lifecycle analysis, supply chain and logistics to turnkey design, development and integration.

“Ricardo’s involvement in the Sustainable Hydrogen Powered Shipping (sHYpS) project means we are applying our world-leading expertise in the hydrogen value chain to implement innovative hydrogen technologies safely to help the global maritime sector achieve long term decarbonization goals. We are leading the specification, design, build and test of a 375kW fuel cell module and the design of a 40ft containerized multi-MW power plant that combines the outputs of several fuel cell modules. This latest expansion of our capabilities will help us to deliver future projects.”

In related news, Ricardo recently announced it is working with the sustainable HYdrogen powered Shipping consortium (sHYpS) on the design and development of hydrogen fuel cell propulsion systems to power zero-emission passenger vessels, while also supporting long-term decarbonization targets within the maritime sector. Click here to read the full story.