Hydrogen fuel cells in shipping: A policy case study of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Hydrogen fuel cells are promising for reducing emissions from shipping. However, their adoption is limited by high costs, lack of regulations, and lack of infrastructure. The objective of this study is to identify the policy instruments needed to accelerate their uptake for the shipping industries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The research is based on a literature review and a stakeholder workshop which served as the basis for proposing three policy packages with different degrees of ambition (low, medium, high). These were evaluated with the TIMES-NEU model, an economic model generator for energy systems, which indicated that the proposed taxes on CO2 emissions and on fossil fuels can help drive the transition away from fossil fuels, but the complete transition requires a ban. The findings show that the proposed policy packages are sufficient to shift the fuel consumption towards methanol for the period of 2025–2040, and towards ammonia for the period of 2040–2050.