An electro-hydrogen foiling catamaran project launched!
MobyFly, designer of high-performance, low-consumption zero-emission boats, and EODev announced́ the signing of a collaboration agreement for the development of a hydrogen-powered hydrofoil* for fast passenger transport. The design is underway and the first units expected by 2024!
Formalized during the Think Swiss Hydrogen conference evening at the Swiss Embassy, in the presence of Sue Putallaz, CEO of MobyFly, Anders Bringdal, Product Director of MobyFly, Jérémie Lagarrigue, Managing Director of EODev and Victorien Erussard, President and Founder of Energy Observer, this partnership will allow to meet the expectations of the organizers of large events and public authorities in need of zero-emission passenger shuttles.
Decarbonizing the fast ferry market
A pioneer in its field, MobyFly will be in charge of designing hydrofoils that can carry (depending on their size) from 12 to 300 people comfortably over the waves, at speeds of more than 70 km/h and with a 70% reduction in energy consumption compared to current diesel ferries. The clean and silent propulsion of the shuttles will be ensured and optimized by EODev's REXH₂® onboard generator.
Running exclusively on hydrogen and designed around the TOYOTA fuel cell part, the REXH₂® will adapt to the power requirements of the fast ferry market, reaching 70 kW per unit.
A particularly relevant choice according to Sue Putallaz, CEO of MobyFly: "The integration of EODev's marinized and certified fuel cell will allow us to accelerate the availability of our Hydrogen Hydrofoils for even greater distances than we offer."
This combination of know-how, constituting on the one hand the construction of high technological performance boats by Mobifly and on the other hand, the supply of reliable and ecologically sustainable electro-hydrogen solutions by EODev, has the vocation to evolve in the long term for the construction of hydrogen boats.
Jérémie Lagarrigue, Managing Director of EODev, is delighted with this promising collaboration, which will help decarbonize the fast ferry market. "The solution to reduce the carbon footprint of boats without affecting their performance lies in the best possible combination of innovations that all contribute to the project: electric motors and batteries for power, fuel cells and hydrogen to improve autonomy, and foils to allow boats to literally fly on the water, thus reducing the resistance to forward motion and therefore, the energy requirements to move forward. This project with MobyFly is in line with current developments in hydrofoil boats, but goes further to propose in a very concrete way an optimal solution to the environmental problems of small and medium capacity passenger shuttles."In turn, Anders Brindgal, Product Director at Mobifly, greets the partnership "Working with EODev who, like us, has had to go through competition and performance, is a natural choice for us at MobyFly."