Powering Aquaculture Operations at Sea : Can Hydrogen Be a Sustainable Solution?

Marine aquaculture has shown a particularly strong growth in recent years and is considered as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Although coastal aquaculture industry is the most predominant form of aquaculture it has caused several conflicts among stakeholders due to the limited availability of near-coast areas combined with relevant environmental issues. The latter combined with the need of increased seafood production has led to a growing trend for the industry to move further away from coast. Sustainable and competitive offshore economic activity though, faces many challenges. A critical one is related to energy requirements and how to provide this vital element uninterruptedly far from coast. This paper aims to give a brief overview of the energy requirements of an offshore aquaculture farm, review current energy supply solutions, and explore a potentially new solution with the use of hydrogen as the main fuel