Siemens Bags Electric Ferry Propulsion Contract
Siemens said it has secured a contract to supply propulsion systems for two new The all-electric battery ferries to be operated by Fjord1 on the E39 Anda-Lote route on the west coast of Norway.
Both vessels will have a cargo capacity of 120 cars, 12 trailers and 349 passengers. Operation on the 2.4 kilometer-long route will start in January 2018.
With this contract, the first four battery-driven ferries in the world will run on technology developed and manufactured by Siemens, the company noted. In 2015, the company delivered the propulsion system for the Ampere, which is the world's first all-electric ferry, and was commissioned by the Finnish shipping company FinFerries in early 2016.
On board each of the two ferries, Siemens will install a complete integrated electric power and automation solution: The electric propulsion solution BlueDrive PlusC includes lithium-ion batteries as energy storage and thruster and remote control for the propellers, an energy management system and an integrated alarm and monitoring system. The ship's energy storage system is charged at each side of the crossing, with a shore connection to the local grid, and is monitored from the ferries based on WiFi communication.
Today the ferries are operated with diesel engines. They run every 20 minutes from 06:40 a.m. to 10 p.m. and with reduced frequency during the night. This route on the west coast of Norway is the first ferry connection where the country’s Road Administration requires the use of zero-emission technology. The tender dictated that one of the ferries must be based on zero emissions and that the second could be a low emissions ferry. Fjord1 ended up choosing two electric battery powered ferries, giving a better overall return both financially and for the environment.
“Once the infrastructure is in place on land, it makes sense to make the most of the investments with two ferries. Therefore we chose to go for the most environmentallyfriendly option”, says Maritime Technical Director at Fjord1, Arild Austrheim.
“With this contract, we have proven our leading position in environmentally-friendly propulsion solution,” says Juergen Brandes, CEO of the Process Industries and Drives Division at Siemens. “We have shown that the technology is robust, sustainable and reduces costs.”
The technology is developed in Norway and is based on solutions that are designed for offshore vessels. This ensures that the technology has been tested under tough conditions and refined over many years.
The tender for the ferry route between Anda and Lote is the first tender for ferry services in Norway to make ferries with zero and low emissions a requirement. This is in line with the government's new requirements for stricter environmental standards.
