DRIFT – Sailing and solving the fossilfree power production problems

Just thinking of the most ideal fossil free energy production, then, what would that be?

The production should not occupy our nature along our coasts, like the windgeneration fields are doing now massively.

The production should be close to its demand. So again, not like a windgenerator field.

The energy should compact and easy to transport, like Hydrogen.

It should respect nature, so no collateral damage to nature, like heavy propellers noise does to fauna at sea.

It should be easy to invest, so low costs to scale up.

It should be downscaleable without leaving a problem to future generations. So, when we don’t need it anymore, we should not be left with an industrial complex, like windturbine fields, or worse, a nuclear powerplant.

And, last but not least, it should be cheaper.

DRIFT – a promising project.

The answer to all this could come from a really promising project and it is called the DRIFT project.

The technology

In core, it is a big sailing catamaran with hydrogeneration, using the electricity for the production of Hydrogen.

Just like on the Ya, propellers make an alternator run and create electrictity. This electricity is feeding a mini factory on board, converting water to hydrogen. This works through electrolysis. It takes the Oxigene molecule from the water molecule. The Hydrogen molecules floating as a gas, are put in a tank. With compression, the Hydrogen becomes fluid and efficient to store.

The logistics

The whole operation runs on AI (Augmented Intelligence). Given the time to deliver, the AI picks the best winds, so the best sailing courses to make the most energy and bring the desired Hydrogen to the point of demand.

*In this example the starting point is the same as the delivering point. AI picks the best route to deliver the demanded amount of Hydrogen to the delivering point.*

The development from now

In 2024 a ‘seed funding campaign’ has started and this year the building of the first catamaran has begun.

*It is just meant to produce. You can see that on ‘sails’, just like airplane wings.. And do you see the ‘cabin’ in the center? Not the most cosy place to be.*

*The scaleability of the Hydrogen production is easy: you need a lot, you see a lot of the catamarans at sea.*

Prize winner

DRIFT won the 2024 Monaco Prize for Innovation at the Monaco Hydrogen Forum. 2025, DRIFT achieved 11th place on the UK 2025 Startups 100 list of most innovative startups and was winner in the sustainability category.

So there must be something good to this project.