MARINER Partnership – Validation and Demonstration of a Reliable, Efficient, Scalable, and Low-Cost PEM Fuel Cell System

MARINER will develop and validate a modular, scalable 1 MW Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell system specifically designed for maritime applications, directly addressing key barriers to decarbonizing shipping. Aligned with the CH-JU’s objectives, the project targets critical cost, efficiency, and lifetime performance breakthroughs. MARINER will :1. Design a modular multi stack architecture that follows the open StaSHH interface, integrates shared balance of plant, fault tolerant power electronics and hydrogen efficient recirculation, and meets < 1 200 €/kW CAPEX and ≥ 55 % (LHV) net efficiency targets.2. Assemble and validate a 200 kW prototype, then scale to a containerised 1 MW demonstrator, undergoing 1 000 h endurance under moist, salty and temperature varied conditions, while a 200 kW module accrues the equivalent of 40 000 h through system level accelerated stress testing.3. Develop open source digital twins, diagnostics and health conscious control, enabling 100 × faster than real time simulation, predictive maintenance and safe load sharing that extends lifetime towards the 80 000 h 2030 KPI.4. Quantify total cost of ownership, life cycle impacts and circularity, benchmarked against diesel, LNG and battery alternatives, and publish best practice guidelines, safety procedures and a roadmap to type approval (TRL 9).5. Engage end users, regulators and parallel EU projects (StaSHH, HyShip, ZEWT, etc.), ensuring harmonised test protocols, feedback to standards and a clear market uptake path for European OEMs and SMEs.By delivering a marine ready, scalable 1 MW PEMFC building block and the tools and evidence to de risk commercial adoption, MARINER will convert stack level breakthroughs into a deployable, certifiable, economically viable power train family, accelerating the point where zero emission shipping is the rational business choice, not an R&D pilot.