NES wins major contract on zero-emission freight ferry
Written by Nick Blenkey
In zero emissions mode, ferry has crossing time of one hour on Puttgarten/Rødby route.
Turkey’s Cemre Shipyard has awarded Norwegian Electric Systems AS (NES) a substantial contract to supply the battery and control systems, plus act as system integrator, for the zero-emission ferry that the shipyard is building for Scandlines.
The new ferry will have a length of 147.4 meters, breadth of 25.4 meters and design draft of 5.3 meters. It will have a capacity of 66 freight units and will accommodate 140 passengers. It will be able to carry trucks on both the upper and lower decks.
The ferry will operate on the route between Puttgarden, Germany, and Rødby, Denmark. It will be built as a battery hybrid, but will operate on the crossing in all-electric mode. It will enter service on the route in 2024 following extension of a 50 kV / 25 MW power cable to the ferry berths in Rødby, where a transformer and charging station will be installed. Initially, it will charge only in Rødby. In the longer run, the plan is to also be able to charge in Puttgarden when Scandlines finds a good solution for the purchase of green energy.
When operating in zero-emissions mode, the ferry will have a crossing time of one hour. In hybrid mode, the crossing time is 45 minutes.
FROM BRIDGE TO PROPELLER
As the system integrator for the ferry’s power systems and smart control set-up, NES will be in charge of the complete energy design, electric power and distribution including energy storage system (battery).
Under the contract, NES will supply the ESS (energy storage system) pack, DC switchboard, generators and AC switchboards that allow two sailing modes: fully electric and hybrid electric mode (battery and biodiesel for auxiliary engines).
“We will manage the complete energy design. The energy storage system is currently the world’s largest for a ferry,” says Jan Klokk, vice president sales at NES.
NES will also deliver its Raven integrated navigation system to the vessel, bridge consoles, integrated alarm system (IAS) and a data collection system to monitor vessel equipment performance. The data can be used in predictive maintenance programs.
LARGEST CONTRACT EVER FOR NES
NES estimates that its total contract value will be close to NOK 100 million (over $11 million), which is the largest contract ever for NES. It also represents a breakthrough contract in the highly active Turkish shipbuilding market.
“This is the largest contract NES has ever been awarded. It will be a high-tech ferry that on completion will sail the world’s longest zero emission ferry crossing. We look forward to applying our competence and technologies to help Scandlines towards their zero emission ambitions,” says Geir Larsen managing director of NES.
“We have committed ourselves to ensuring that maximum electrical loss is below a certain threshold, which means that we will turn every stone to make this ferry as energy-efficient as practically possible, thereby keeping operating expenditure and environmental footprint to a minimum,” adds Larsen.
NES, which is a subsidiary of HAV Group ASA listed on Euronext Growth Oslo, will draw on competence from across its three Norwegian facilities—in Bergen (HQ), Egersund and Ålesund—plus its recently opened office in Istanbul, Turkey. to design, assemble and test the systems.
NES will supply all the equipment to Cemre Shipyard by the end of 2023.
