Optiwise aims to improve the design and control of ships using wind propulsion


Rogier Eggers r.eggers@marin.nl


MARIN, together with the consortium outlined below, has initiated ‘Optiwise’, an EU funded research and innovation project aiming to improve and demonstrate energy savings using wind propulsion.


Our overall ambition is to develop and employ holistic design and control methods for groundbreaking new ship concepts utilising wind propulsion. With these methods we expect to realise average energy savings between 30% and 50% when compared to equivalent conventional ships, while ensuring operational feasibility in a realistic wind climate.


The project is initiated on the premise that alternative fuels will be needed in order to reach the required Green House Gas emission reductions. However, there are uncertainties about whether there will be a sufficient supply and the cost of these fuels will be high in the foreseeable future, which means that energy savings on board are expected to be increasingly important. Wind propulsion is already demonstrating significant savings for 15+ ships in operation. And we believe that a substantial increase in these savings can still be made when rethinking the design process and control of ships while taking wind propulsion into account.


Optiwise will consider three operational use cases. Extensive simulations within these use cases will be done covering aerodynamics, hydrodynamics and marine power systems. These are holistically brought together in routing and energy management. There will be a keen additional focus on realistic operational


applications of the designs using basin tests to assess manoeuvring and seakeeping, as well as bridge simulations to assess operations from the crew’s point of view. In order to increase effective thrust in uncertain wind conditions, full-scale, land- based tests are also performed to verify smarter control methods for Flettner rotors.


Set to complete in 2025, the project will deliver open guidelines for integrated system optimisation with wind propulsion and smart measurement and control for the optimal operation of the vessels. The first results are expected in the spring of 2023.


Partners working alongside MARIN are CORE IC, SSPA, Ayro, Chantiers de


l'Atlantique, Flikkema Innovation Management & Consultancy, Wärtsilä, Universita Degli Studi di Genova, Euronav, Anemoi Marine Technologies, Blue Planet Shipping, AIVP and ABS.


Optiwise receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research programme under grant agreement No. 101056769.


For further information visit www.marin.nl/jips/optiwise


From left to right: Chantiers de l’Atlantique Solid Sail (passenger vessel), ANEMOI Rotor Sails (bulk carrier) and AYRO OceanWings (tanker)


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