Corvus batteries chosen for Europe’s first hybrid tugboat

Corvus Energy’s battery packs, the world’s most powerful and energy dense lithium polymer batteries, were recently installed in Europe’s first hybrid tugboat.

In a diesel-to-hybrid conversion, Kotug of The Netherlands has converted its RT Adriaan and renamed it E-KOTUG RT Adriaan. The tugboat  rejoined the KOTUG fleet March 6 and is located in Port of Rotterdam, where it is fully operational and is optimizing its hybrid mode

The conversion features Corvus’ AT6500 48 volt lithium polymer battery packs. Corvus’ lithium polymer batteries last up to 10 times longer and have up to 10 times more power and energy storage than lead acid batteries. This translates to improved fuel economy, maintenance savings, increased usable battery power, a significant reduction in harmful emissions, and less weight on the vessel.

“Corvus is proud to have been selected as the battery supplier and to be part of this milestone project in Europe with AKA (Aspin Kemp & Associates) and KOTUG,” said Corvus Energy’s CEO Brent Perry. “This installation demonstrates our company’s ability to provide sustainable industrial solutions that delivers significant impact to the bottom line–a capex driven solution with long term return on investment.”

“Since the conversion, we are very pleased with the initial results of the E-KOTUG and look forward to monitoring the tug’s progress after it has cycled through a full month,” said Daan Merkelbach, KOTUG International’s Nautical & QHSE Manager. “After which time, we plan to officially unveil our converted tug in April/May to further demonstrate our commitment to hybrid technology.”

Seattle-based Foss Maritime introduced the world’s first hybrid tug, the Carolyn Dorothy in January 2009, proving that a hybrid tug can deliver full power and operational capabilities while significantly reducing fuel and emissions and saving on maintenance costs. In 2011, Foss incorporated Corvus’ lithium polymer batteries into the Campbell Foss, introducing the next generation in energy and power storage solutions into the Tugboat industry.

There will be an update on hybrid tug technology in the April print and digital editions of Marine Log.

March 30, 2012