Norwegian company LH2 Shipping has received its third consecutive Enova award: NOK 344.3 million (approximately US$36 million) to fund the design and construction of two additional liquid-hydrogen-powered bulk carriers. With this grant, the Bergen-based company now has six hydrogen vessels in development — the largest liquid-hydrogen shipping programme in the world by vessel count — backed by more than NOK 800 million in Norwegian state support.
⚡ TL;DR
- Grant: NOK 344.3 million (~US$36m) from Enova for vessels 5 and 6.
- Fleet: LH2 Shipping now has 6 hydrogen bulk carriers in development; total Enova support exceeds NOK 800 million.
- Vessel design: 108 m, 7,700 DWT dry bulk; 17t LH₂ tank, 3,400 kW PEM fuel cells, 3 MWh battery, solar hatch covers.
- Route: Shortsea — Norwegian ports to continental Europe and Baltic, 50% Norwegian coastal trade.
- Company: LH2 Shipping, Bergen, Norway; also led the MF Hydra project, Norway's first LH₂ ship.
The Grant
On 17 June 2026, Enova — Norway’s state enterprise for energy transition — awarded LH2 Shipping NOK 344.3 million to fund two additional liquid-hydrogen-powered bulk carriers, designated vessels 5 and 6 in the company’s growing programme. The award is part of a broader NOK 1.3 billion Enova funding round covering ten zero-emission vessels across several projects.
LH2 Shipping has now received three separate rounds of Enova support. The cumulative total for all six vessels exceeds NOK 800 million (approximately US$84 million) — making it the single largest commitment of Norwegian state funds to any one hydrogen shipping programme.
CEO Ivan Østvik described the award as “an important strategic milestone for LH2 Shipping. It strengthens our position as a developer of liquid hydrogen-based zero-emission vessel solutions.”
Enova’s Elin Ulstad Stokland framed the funding in terms of the risk that technology pioneers must absorb: “If we are to succeed in the transition to low and zero emission solutions in the maritime sector, we depend on players who dare to go first.”
The Vessels
All six bulk carriers in LH2 Shipping’s programme share the same design. They are 7,700 DWT dry bulk carriers, 108 metres long, intended for shortsea routes — Norway to continental Europe and into the Baltic, with approximately 50% of operating time on Norwegian coastal trade.
The vessel design targets a minimum 30% reduction in energy consumption relative to a conventional diesel-powered bulk carrier of equivalent size. This is achieved through a combination of the fuel cell propulsion system (which is inherently more efficient than a combustion engine), solar panels integrated into the hatch covers, and shore-power connectivity that allows the vessel to maintain hotel loads and cargo handling operations from the grid while in port, drawing zero fuel.
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vessel type | Dry bulk carrier |
| Deadweight | 7,700 DWT |
| Length | 108 m |
| Fuel | Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) |
| LH₂ storage | 17 tonnes |
| Fuel cells | 3,400 kW PEM |
| Battery | 3 MWh |
| Backup | Standby diesel / biodiesel generator |
| Solar | Panels on hatch covers |
| Shore power | Yes |
| Service | Shortsea, Norway + continental Europe + Baltic |
The Propulsion System
Each vessel uses liquid hydrogen — LH₂ stored at -253°C — as its primary energy carrier. This distinguishes LH2 Shipping’s approach from the majority of hydrogen vessel projects globally, which use compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH₂) stored at 350–700 bar.
LH₂ has a significant energy density advantage over compressed gas: roughly six to ten times more hydrogen by volume can be stored in the same tank space when liquefied. For a vessel that needs to make commercial voyages to the Baltic and back without mid-voyage bunkering, this energy density is not a convenience — it is what makes the mission profile feasible at all. A 7,700 DWT bulk carrier covering North Sea and Baltic routes needs meaningfully more hydrogen aboard than a harbour tug or a short-ferry like MF Hydra.
The 17-tonne LH₂ tank feeds 3,400 kW of PEM fuel cells that convert hydrogen directly to electricity, which then drives electric motors for propulsion. A 3 MWh battery handles load transients and can sustain operations during fuel cell maintenance or at very low demand. The vessel retains a standby diesel or biodiesel generator as a backup — a practical necessity for commercial bulk shipping, where a total propulsion failure at sea carries serious commercial and safety consequences.
Why Liquid Rather Than Compressed?
The choice of LH₂ over CGH₂ carries tradeoffs. LH₂ requires cryogenic storage infrastructure at every bunkering point — specialised tanks, vacuum-insulated transfer lines, handling equipment, and trained operators. This infrastructure does not yet exist at scale at European bulk ports. LH₂ also suffers from boil-off — a small, continuous fraction of the stored hydrogen evaporates even in a well-insulated tank and must be managed (vented, recaptured, or burned as fuel) during port stays and slow steaming.
LH2 Shipping’s bet is that these infrastructure challenges are solvable at the scale Norway and the EU will need by the time their fleet is operational — and that the energy density advantage is worth it for the specific commercial profile of shortsea bulk shipping. It is a longer-term, higher-infrastructure-requirement bet than the CGH₂ approach taken by vessels like Rasa at Klaipėda, but if the bunkering network develops, it unlocks hydrogen propulsion for vessel types and route lengths that compressed gas simply cannot serve.
Who Is LH2 Shipping?
LH2 Shipping was founded in Bergen, Norway in 2023, with a focus specifically on liquid hydrogen as a maritime fuel. The company is best understood as a project developer and operator: it designs, commissions, and operates hydrogen vessels rather than building them. No shipbuilder has been publicly named for the bulk carrier programme.
Before forming LH2 Shipping, the team was involved in MF Hydra — the world’s first liquid-hydrogen-powered vessel, a ro-pax ferry that entered service in 2023 on the Hjelmeland–Skipavik–Nesvik route in western Norway. MF Hydra proved that LH₂ bunkering and shipboard fuel cell operation was achievable at commercial scale, and the operational data from that project informs LH2 Shipping’s bulk carrier design.
The MF Hydra connection is significant not just as a proof of concept, but as an argument about institutional capability. LH2 Shipping’s team has already built, bunkered, and operated a cryogenic hydrogen vessel in commercial service — a much stronger basis for Enova’s confidence in the bulk carrier programme than a purely theoretical pitch.
Enova’s Role in Norway’s Maritime Transition
Enova is the Norwegian government’s primary instrument for funding energy transition technologies. Unlike a grant agency that distributes fixed subsidies, Enova operates a competitive award model: project developers apply with specific proposals, and Enova evaluates technical credibility, market potential, and the degree to which the funding will accelerate adoption that would not otherwise happen.
The NOK 1.3 billion round announced in June 2026 — of which LH2 Shipping’s latest award is a component — reflects a deliberate broadening of Enova’s maritime portfolio beyond the battery electric vessels that dominated earlier rounds. Norway’s coastal fleet is moving beyond the range at which battery-only ships are viable, and Enova’s funding of LH₂ and ammonia projects signals an institutional recognition that the next frontier requires molecular fuels, not just electrons.
AMON Maritime, which is developing ammonia-powered vessels, also received Enova support in this round — illustrating that Norway is hedging across fuel types rather than committing exclusively to hydrogen.
What Comes Next
LH2 Shipping’s six vessels remain in development. The company has not publicly named a shipbuilder, announced a construction start date, or specified a delivery timeline for vessels 5 and 6. The first four vessels were announced in earlier funding rounds, but their construction status has also not been publicly confirmed.
The critical open question is bunkering infrastructure. Seventeen tonnes of LH₂ per vessel is a meaningful demand signal — but only if there is somewhere to bunker it on the routes the vessels will serve. Norwegian ports have experience with LNG and some compressed hydrogen, but commercial LH₂ bunkering for cargo vessels at Baltic ports is not yet operational.
The programme’s success therefore depends on a coordination problem being solved: LH₂ producers must invest in liquefaction capacity, port authorities must build cryogenic bunkering infrastructure, and all of this must be available when the vessels enter service. LH2 Shipping’s role is to be the demand anchor that justifies that infrastructure investment — which is precisely what the Enova funding is designed to underwrite.
For those tracking the broader trajectory of hydrogen shipping, the LH2 Shipping programme is the most ambitious liquid-hydrogen shipping commitment in the world. Whether it delivers commercially will be one of the most watched tests of whether LH₂ can scale from the pioneering demonstration of MF Hydra to routine bulk cargo operations across the North Sea and Baltic.
Sources
- Maritime Executive: Norway Accelerates Hydrogen-Power Bulker Project for Shortsea Shipping
- Clean Shipping International: Enova Funds Two More Hydrogen-Fuelled Bulk Carriers
- Advanced Maritime Technology International: LH2 Shipping Secures Enova Support for Two Liquid-Hydrogen-Powered Bulk Carriers
- Ship & Bunker: LH2 Shipping Secures Additional Enova Funds to Build Hydrogen-Powered Ships
- IndexBox: LH2 Shipping Adds Two Hydrogen Bulk Carriers for Baltic Shortsea Operations