last word Narve Mjøs
Hybrid power poised to play main role
DNV director of battery projects, environment and energy efficiency Narve Mjøs argues that a new energy contender has entered the passenger ship arena: hybridisation. He explained why
future fuel and energy mix. It is a topic of particular interest to Norway and just recently
A
around 120 managers from the country’s shipping industry gathered at a DNV seminar on the subject. This comes on the back of an announcement that in 2013-14, the first four hybrid vessels in the country will start to sail. While these are offshore vessels and ferries, the country’s passenger ship industry is following in these footsteps: early in 2015, ferry operator Norled will put the world’s largest fully- electric ferry, with a capacity of 120 cars and 360 passengers, into operation in the biggest fjord in Norway. Nevertheless, although this is an example of a fully-electric
ferry, I believe that hybrid solutions, where a mix of battery and diesel power are combined, are likely to gain greater momentum in the passenger ship industry. Here is why: Norled’s ferry will only have to travel 20 minutes across the Sognefjord and then it can charge its batteries when it arrives at port.
However, if longer distances are involved, then the solution is hybridisation and we can see a much bigger potential here since there are no limitations on distance. Hybrid ships with energy storage in batteries and optimised power control can achieve significant reductions in fuel consumption, maintenance and emissions. I believe that the driver for deploying hybrid solutions by the passenger ship industry will, firstly, be cost savings. Those will be completely dependent on the engines’ operational profile and a smart first step will be to carry out technology and economic analyses to investigate payback time. Secondly, it might cut emissions by up to 20 per cent. I believe that hybrid systems will be adopted more quickly
than LNG in segments of the passenger ship sector because ships using the former are not dependent on infrastructure in the same way as LNG power. It took about 10 years from when the first LNG vessel started operation in 2001 until the number of ships using LNG reached 25. The speed will most likely be faster than this for hybrid ferries. Is this something that could also take off in the cruise market?
84 I Passenger Ship Technology I 2nd Quarter 2013
nother technology race has started. The use of hybrid power for passenger vessels is something that I believe will be developed as a key supporting technology in the
We have been examining this and, because an enormous amount of energy is needed for their main engines, I believe it will take some time. However, in the long term, there could be potential here. For example, Scandlines has initiated a project whereby it will refurbish four battery-powered hybrid ferries. These ships are fairly large and in this way, as the technology develops and borders are pushed, its power density increases, and price is pushed down. This will lead to more opportunities for deploying this type of power. However, I think that for the larger passenger ships, main
engines will remain powered by diesel or LNG while the auxiliary engines could be hybrid types. I believe that this will be the start for larger ships and deepsea shipping. To reduce the impact of pollution from ships in some of Norway’s fjords, vessels could use fuel for the main leg of the journey and operate on battery power when approaching the port area.
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do want to stress, however, that we are talking about something that will not replace other energy sources; this is something that will enhance these solutions and offer a second option.
We absolutely expect it to become more mainstream in segments and I believe that it might develop into a separate electrical vessel industry in the same way that we have seen in the automotive industry, with electrical and hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, if battery power is deployed on a ship, then
there is a good platform for using it together with future- orientated technologies. For example, if solar and renewable energy are used to power a ship, this could be stored in a battery package as it is not always necessary if it is windy or there is enough sun. In this way, an operator could store energy so that for each ship you could have a type of power plant in which you produce the energy in the most efficient way and just use it when you need it, as with the hybrid solution. This means that a combination of energy, such as fossil, renewable and recovered energy and batteries could be used to operate a ship. Norled’s ship can be used as an example, as its vessel might test the use of solar panels. Norway has taken a lead position on hybrid technology and
I believe it will spread to other countries and has the potential to develop fast. PST
www.passengership.info
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