JDP aims to push marine battery development and safety

Energy storage system onboard a passenger ferry

MARCH 9, 2017 — Classification society DNV GL has announced the launch of a Joint Development Project (JDP), designed to advance the understanding of the use of lithium-ion batteries in the shipping industry.

Partners joining the initiative include flag states, research institutions, battery and propulsion suppliers, fire detection and extinguishing system providers, and ship owners, operators and shipyards.

“Including batteries in ships, whether as a hybrid or fully electric system, offers the industry the opportunity to improve fuel economy, reliability and operational costs,” says Geir Dugstad, Director of Ship Classification and Technical Directo, DNV GL – Maritime. “For this technology to fully take hold, however, knowledge and requirements must be in place to ensure that we have products and a safety regime that address the concerns of all stakeholders while also creating the conditions for this technology to take off in the market.”

The JDP officially kicked off at the end of 2017, with major tasks defined as follows.

1. Safety Model Development and Assessment Based on Prior Knowledge
2. Concerted Lithium-Ion Battery Risk Assessment
3. Battery Safety Testing Program
4. Battery Safety Simulation and Analysis Tool Development and Refinement
5. Project Management, Dissemination, Input to Requirements and Rules

The JDP brings together stakeholders from across the whole maritime industry, creating a pool of expertise, knowledge and experience from many perspectives to develop a greater understanding of the challenges and requirements of expanding the use of batteries in the maritime realm.

“With the new advances in alternative fuels it’s our ambition to actively partner with the maritime industry and contribute to solutions that satisfy vessel safety and environmental impact while also taking the industry’s commercial needs into consideration,” says Director General of the Norwegian Maritime Authority Olav Akselsen.

“There is a great opportunity to further enhance the approval process for these types of systems with reliable technical input,” adds Denis Cederholm-Larsen, Senior Ship Surveyor at the Danish Maritime Authority, “This type of collaborative, industry focused research program is the perfect platform for those developments.”

“We put a great deal of effort into ensuring the safety of these new alternative systems, but the cost of the present safety and approval methodology is cumbersome. This collaborative effort gives a chance for an even greater level of safety while also ensuring that these new and advanced technologies can be implemented to a greater extent”, says Rasmus Nielsen, Naval Architect and Officer at Scandlines.

“We believe this type of project arrangement will be extremely beneficial in raising the level of understanding of all parties involved to a very high degree, while also providing guidance that the entire industry can benefit from,” says Jostein Bogen, VP Global Product Manager, Energy Storage and Fuel Cells in ABB.

At the end of the JDP the partners hope to have enhanced their own understanding so as to optimize their own products and services, while creating a set of inputs that can be taken up to push the development not only of the batteries themselves, but also the associated systems, procedures, and approval processes.

Project Partners:

• Norwegian Maritime Authority
• Danish Maritime Authority
• Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt, FFI)
• Corvus Energy, maritime battery systems vendor
• Plan B (PBES), maritime battery systems vendor
• FIFI4MARINE, lithium-ion fire extinguishing system provider
• Nexceris, developer of battery off-gas sensing technology
• Rolls-Royce Marine AS, propulsion and system technology provider ABB, propulsion and system technology provider
• Stena, ferry owner and operator
• Scandlines, ferry owner and operator, including largest maritime battery installation in the world
• Damen, shipbuilder
• DNV GL