Norsepower’s Rotor Sail on Hybrid Ferry

Ferry operator Scandlines has announced that it has signed an agreement with Norsepower Oy Ltd, leading clean technology and engineering company pioneering modern wind propulsion technology, to install Norsepower’s Rotor Sail Solution on board the M/V Copenhagen, a hybrid passenger ferry.

Operating between Rostock in Germany and Gedser in Denmark, the M/V Copenhagen belongs to the world’s largest fleet of hybrid ferries, which combines diesel and battery power. Since 2013, Scandlines has invested more than  EUR 300 million in building and retrofitting ferries from conventional diesel-driven to hybrid ferries. With the addition of Norsepower’s technology, the vessel will further reduce its emissions.

The Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution is a modernized version of the Flettner rotor – a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to thrust a ship. It is the first data-verified and commercially operational auxiliary wind propulsion technology for the global maritime industry. When wind conditions are favorable, it enables the electric propulsion thrusters and center propel to be throttled back, reducing emissions – while providing the power needed to maintain speed and voyage time. Because it generates supplementary thrust from wind, the solution is compatible with all other emissions saving technologies.

The route between Gedser to the north and Rostock to the south is almost perpendicular to the prevailing wind from west giving Scandlines favorable conditions for using Rotor Sails on the ferry crossing.

Preparations for the retrofit will take place in November 2019 with the installation scheduled for Q2 2020. M/V Copenhagen is set to be retrofitted with one large-sized Norsepower Rotor Sail unit that is 30m in height and 5m in diameter.

“By installing a Rotor Sail, we can reduce CO2 emissions on the Rostock-Gedser route by four to five per cent,” says Scandlines CEO Søren Poulsgaard Jensen.

NABU, the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, is pleased with Scandlines’ decision to further reduce CO2 emission:

“NABU welcomes Scandlines’ various efforts towards sustainable shipping. With rotors besides hybrid drives, the company sets new standards in terms of integrating different technical solutions to mitigate especially climate and air pollution emissions. To reach the Paris climate goals, more corporate responsibility by other shipping companies is needed,” says Malte Siegert, Head of Environmental Policy at NABU.