The maritime industry is under increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially in countries such as Saudi Arabia that are actively working to transition to cleaner energy. In this paper, a new hybrid shipboard power system, which incorporates wind turbines, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), and a battery energy storage system (BESS) together for propulsion and hotel load services, is proposed. A multi-loop Energy Management System (EMS) based on proportional–integral control (PI) is developed to coordinate the interconnections of the power sources in real time. In contrast to the widely reported model predictive or artificial intelligence optimization schemes, the PI-derived EMS achieves similar power stability and hydrogen utilization efficiency with significantly reduced computational overhead and full marine suitability. By taking advantage of the high solar irradiance and coastal wind resources in Saudi Arabia, the proposed configuration provides continuous near-zero-emission operation. Simulation results show that the PEMFC accounts for about 90% of the total energy demand, the BESS (±0.4 MW, 2 MWh) accounts for about 3%, and the stationary renewables account for about 7%, which reduces the demand for hydro-gas to about 160 kg. The DC-bus voltage is kept within ±5% of its nominal value of 750 V, and the battery state of charge (SOC) is kept within 20% to 80%. Sensitivity analyses show that by varying renewable input by ±20%, diesel consumption is ±5%. These results demonstrate the system’s ability to meet International Maritime Organization (IMO) emission targets by delivering stable near-zero-emission operation, while achieving high hydrogen efficiency and grid stability with minimal computational cost. Consequently, the proposed system presents a realistic, certifiable, and regionally optimized roadmap for next-generation hybrid PEMFC–battery–renewable marine power systems in Saudi Arabian coastal operations.

Hybrid marine propulsion systems are becoming increasingly indispensable to support the analysis of energy management performance and system-level control behavior, especially of small vessels under variable load conditions. Nevertheless, a significant percentage of existing simulation research is based on simplified operational profiles or subsystem-level validations and thus limits their applicability to realistic maritime environments and full energy management assessments. The present investigation is aimed at developing and evaluating a modular hybrid propulsion system model, which is able to effectively synchronize the propulsion dynamics, power distribution, and energy storage performance under controlled simulation conditions representative of typical maritime operating profiles. A comprehensive hybrid power system is formulated and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. It consists of a synchronous reluctance assisted permanent magnet generator (SRPM), a lithium-ion battery, and an SRPM propulsion motor. A hierarchical energy management architecture, based on state of charge (SOC) droop control and proportional-integral (PI) current control, is used to coordinate generator-battery power sharing and maintain DC-bus stability during dynamic operating situations. Simulation results indicate consistent system-level behavior under the considered operating conditions of the model in terms of propulsion speed tracking error of about 0.7%, torque tracking error of about 2%, DC-link voltage transient deviations of + 4.9% and − 3.6% with tighter regulation during steady-state operation, d-q axis current tracking error of 1% and 2%, total power tracking error of 3%, and battery SOC tracking errors of about ± 1% within the safe operating envelope of battery SOC of 20–80%. The proposed framework is a scalable and forward-compatible simulation platform for hybrid marine propulsion analysis. It enables the assessment of energy management strategies and opens the door for the integration of hydrogen fuel cells and renewable energy sources in the future to support the development and system-level evaluation of hybrid maritime propulsion systems aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

Maritime transport is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, creating an urgent need for cleaner and more efficient propulsion technologies. Conventional marine diesel engines remain the dominant power source but produce significant amounts of CO ₂ , NOx, and SOx. This paper addresses the challenge of achieving stable and low-emission marine power generation. The main objective is to develop and evaluate a hybrid wind/FC/battery power system controlled by a PI-based energy management system (EMS), providing a low-emission and reliable power supply for marine applications. A complete simulation model was developed in MATLAB/Simulink to analyze the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a lithium-ion battery, and a small onboard wind turbine. For performance evaluation, the proposed hybrid system is compared against a baseline fuel cell–battery configuration without wind integration under mission load conditions. The energy management system is structured as a multi-loop PI-based control architecture, and hydrogen consumption is quantified over the mission profile to assess the impact of wind-assisted power sharing. The EMS coordinates power sharing among the subsystems, maintains DC-bus voltage stability, and regulates the battery state of charge (SOC) within operational limits under dynamic marine load profiles. Simulation results indicate that the proton exchange membrane fuel cell supplies approximately 89.5% of the total energy demand, while the battery and wind subsystems contribute about 7.2% and 3.3%, respectively. The DC-bus voltage is maintained within ±5% of the nominal 750 V, and the battery state of charge remains within the operational range of 20%–80%. The hybrid configuration results in an overall hydrogen consumption reduction of approximately 4% compared to the baseline case, corresponding to a total hydrogen consumption of 153 kg h ^-1 . Variations of ±20% in wind speed lead to less than ±3% variation in hydrogen consumption, which indicates stable performance under the simulated operating conditions. The PI-controlled hybrid fuel cell/battery/wind system represents a feasible and low-complexity solution for green marine propulsion. The proposed system demonstrates potential to support maritime decarbonization goals by reducing fuel consumption and emissions while offering a scalable platform for future sustainable vessel designs.