PERSEE

Their core work

PERSEE is a French SME specializing in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for maritime and transport applications. They provide expertise in hydrogen safety training, fuel cell system integration for ships, and emergency response preparedness for hydrogen incidents. Their work spans from large-scale marine fuel cell demonstrations to developing training programs for first responders handling hydrogen-related emergencies. They contribute technical knowledge to consortia tackling the decarbonization of waterborne transport through hydrogen and ammonia fuel systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

PERSEE's early H2020 work (2017–2019) centered on maritime fuel cell hardware — validating fuel cell powertrains in arctic conditions (MARANDA) and demonstrating large-scale marine fuel cells (FLAGSHIPS). From 2020 onward, their focus broadened to include hydrogen safety training for emergency responders (HyResponder), ammonia-based shipping (ShipFC), and liquid hydrogen demonstration (HyShip). This shift suggests a company moving from pure technology demonstration toward the safety, training, and operational readiness needed to bring hydrogen shipping to market.

PERSEE is expanding from hardware-focused fuel cell projects into the safety infrastructure and workforce training that hydrogen-powered shipping will require at commercial scale.

How they like to work

PERSEE operates exclusively as a consortium participant, never leading projects, which is typical for a specialist SME contributing focused expertise to larger initiatives. With 63 unique partners across 19 countries in just 6 projects, they join large, diverse consortia rather than small focused teams. This breadth of connections suggests they are well-networked in the European hydrogen-maritime community and comfortable working across institutional and national boundaries.

PERSEE has built an extensive network of 63 unique partners across 19 countries through 6 projects — an unusually high partner-to-project ratio indicating participation in large European consortia. Their network spans the hydrogen and maritime sectors across Northern and Western Europe.

What sets them apart

PERSEE occupies a niche at the intersection of hydrogen technology and maritime applications that few SMEs cover. Their combination of fuel cell demonstration experience and hydrogen safety training capability makes them a dual-value partner — they understand both the technology and how to prepare people to work with it safely. For consortium builders, they bring a rare blend of maritime hydrogen hardware knowledge and training/safety program development from a single small company.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ShipFC
  Their largest-funded project (EUR 175,088), piloting multi-megawatt ammonia fuel cells for ships — one of the most ambitious zero-emission maritime demonstrations in H2020.
• FLAGSHIPS
  Long-running project (2019–2026) focused on clean waterborne transport, demonstrating large-scale marine fuel cells across European waterways.
• HyResponder
  Addresses a critical gap — training emergency responders for hydrogen incidents using VR and establishing a European hydrogen safety network.