Marpower Project Reaches Halfway Point, Prepares for Cruise Ship Testing
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The European Marpower project, funded by the European Union, has reached the halfway point of its four-year effort to develop a gas turbine-based power conversion system for maritime transport, designed to operate with various sustainable fuels and improve overall efficiency. The program is now moving into a phase in which this system will be evaluated on a reference cruise ship, among other case studies.
Technological progress
During the first two years, the overall cycle and system design was completed, along with the detailed designs of the low- and high-pressure compressors and the high- and low-pressure turbines. A first combustor prototype running on 100% hydrogen was also successfully manufactured, instrumented and tested on an atmospheric-pressure test rig, with the results now informing the design of a second prototype that will incorporate a flexible air distribution system.
Heat recovery and magnetic bearings
In parallel, a scaled recuperator prototype was assembled and successfully passed pressure tests at 22.3 bar, about 22 times atmospheric pressure, as part of efforts to make better use of heat within the system. An active magnetic bearing was also designed, manufactured and integrated into a flywheel test rig to support the system's high-speed rotating machinery.
Case studies on board ships
In the second half of the project, the complete power conversion system will be evaluated for integration on board ships. Two case studies will look at a container ship and a reference cruise ship, analyzing basic engine room configurations through digital simulations that will measure energy and emissions performance under different operating scenarios—work that is also relevant for the eventual adoption of these technologies in the existing fleet, given its long service life.
Path toward certification
Technical performance will not be the only factor determining the system's applicability: regulatory compliance assessment activities will examine the technologies against safety regulations, standards and engineering practices, including an approval in principle and a technology qualification process, as well as safety studies, maintenance assessments and life-cycle analysis. Professor Jussi Sopanen, the project coordinator at Finland's LUT University, noted that the current challenge is to progressively integrate the developments and expand testing under more representative conditions. The consortium, made up of eleven partners from six European countries, will continue its work until August 2028.
