Volstad to fit OCV with NES battery pack
Written by Nick Blenkey
Grand Canyon III is a 127.5 meters long and 25 meters wide offshore construction vessel, equipped with a 250-tonne offshore crane.
Aalesund, Norway, headquartered Volstad Maritime has contracted HAV Group ASA subsidiary Norwegian Electric Systems AS (NES) to deliver a battery pack and associated battery charging control system for its offshore construction vessel Grand Canyon III.
“The demand for retrofitting battery power on board offshore vessels continues to grow as many shipowners, such as Volstad Maritime, are dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint,” says Egil Bremnes, sales manager at NES. “Lower operating expenditure through reduced fuel consumption is an additional, attractive benefit.”
NES will provide the equipment to the Grand Canyon III in connection with a vessel upgrade in early 2023 and will manage the project from its headquarters in Bergen.
Following the upgrade to battery power notation in early 2023, the offshore construction vessel will enter a five-year charter with Helix Energy Solutions.
Earlier, NES signed a similar contract for Volstad Maritime’s subsea construction vessel Volantis. While the Volantis battery pack is to be installed in a dedicated battery room, the battery pack on board the Grand Canyon III will be installed in a container below the deck.
“Installing the battery pack as a container-based solution can be very cost-efficient for vessels since you do not need to build a dedicated battery room,” says Trond Volstad, project manager at Volstad Maritime.
“Delivering the battery system in dedicated containers will also allow us to conduct extensive testing of the equipment prior to delivery,” says Bremnis. This means that the yard stay can be shortened correspondingly, allowing the vessel to return to operation as quickly as possible,” says Egil Bremnes.
Grand Canyon III is a 127.5 long and 25 metres wide offshore construction vessel. It is equipped with a 250-tonne offshore crane.
Volstad Maritime was one of the first offshore owners to achieve the ISO 50001 accreditation for Energy Management Standard. Installing batteries on board Grand Canyon III will take these efforts another step forward.
