Electric Shipping Initiatives
COSCO electric vessel capable of 1,000 km, China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance, Spanish yard for electric CSOV new-build, Volvo Penta retrofit electric CTV, Blue Economy, Mekong Electrification.
COSCO electric vessel capable of 1,000 km Yangtze voyages launched
By Bojan Lepic (repost from 2023)
COSCO Shipping Development, the financing arm of Chinese state giant COSCO Shipping, has announced the launch of a 700 teu electric container ship which will serve a regular 1,000-km route up and down the Yangtze River. The 10,000 dwt vessel will be powered by 36 portable container-sized batteries and have two 900 kW main propulsion engines.
COSCO said that the vessel was launched at the No. 1 dock of COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry in Yangzhou. The vessel, on its route from Shanghai to Wuhan, will be operated by Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping, a COSCO subsidiary.
The inland vessel is 119.8 m long and 23.6 m wide. In comparison, it is nowhere near the size of ocean-faring containerships which can carry up to 24,000 containers and are up to three times as long.
The vessel will not be able to run the entire 1,000 km route on the batteries it is carrying onboard. It will rather replace its batteries, when necessary, in ports along the way. There are 30 container ports along the 2,700 km of the Yangtze navigable waterway.
Ports allow for ships to enter and then winch depleted batteries off and charged batteries on the vessel. Such a way of operating can reportedly reduce carbon emissions by approximately 32 tons per 24 hours.
COSCO is also the founder of the China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance. Top national authorities and more than 80 companies have joined the alliance, helping cement the country’s position as one of the world’s leaders when it comes to the electrification of shipping with the Yangtze serving as a petri-dish for much of this innovation.
Read more here.
COSCO forms the China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance
By Sam Chambers (repost from 2023)
China’s largest shipping entity, COSCO, has formed the China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance. Top national authorities and more than 80 companies have joined the alliance, helping cement the country’s position as one of the world’s leaders when it comes to the electrification of shipping.
The Yangtze has served as the petri-dish for much of China’s electric vessel developments, but over the past year coastal ships have started operating too, with COSCO now keen to take matters more deepsea.
A study in the Nature Energy Journal last year exploring the economic and environmental benefits of direct electrification of containerships showed that dramatic improvements in batteries have unlocked the potential to electrify big containerships today on voyages of up to 5,000 km.
Read more here.
Bibby Marine taps Spanish yard for electric CSOV new-build
By Adis Ajdin
UK shipowner Bibby Marine has signed a contract with Gondan Shipbuilders in Spain for what it says will be the world’s first truly zero-emission, electric commissioning service operation vessel (eCSOV). The eCSOV will be built in Gondan’s Asturias shipyard and is scheduled to be delivered in 2026.
The vessel, designed in collaboration with UK-based shipdesigners Longitude, will feature a battery system, complemented by dual-fuel methanol engines as well as high-voltage offshore charging facilities.
The unit will have the capability to operate solely on battery power for over 16 hours between charging cycles, Bibby Marine said. Last year the company said the 90-m-long vessel would be built in the UK and be its first newbuild in five years.
“As a UK owned company, we are pleased this vessel will be the first UK designed SOV and a UK flagged vessel. We will continue to work alongside our established supply chain and local academia, to ensure UK shipyards are engaged, and have the opportunity to learn, throughout the process,” said Bibby Marine CEO, Nigel Quinn.
The project is part of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure scheme, funded by the UK Department for Transport and delivered by Innovate UK, under which Bibby Marine and consortium partners secured over £20m.
“The delivery of this vessel has the potential to be a game changer for our industry by accelerating our path to net-zero, as well as showcasing marine innovation at its finest. This project will demonstrate that clean ships can be built at the same total cost of ownership as a conventional fossil burning vessel, coupled with significantly reduced operating costs,” Quinn added.
Read more here.
Volvo Penta to power first retrofitted fully electric CTV
By Bojan Lepic
Gothenburg-based Volvo Penta will provide the power solution for the world’s first retrofitted electric crew transfer vessel (E-CTV). Volvo Penta will power an existing vessel in one of just 10 projects awarded UK government funding as part of an industry-led transition to net zero.
For the project, the company will supply a fully electric propulsion system in an existing vessel, replacing the older combustion engines with a 100% emissions-free solution.
The vessel is being developed for sea transport and crew transit service operator Tidal Transit. The cost of the retrofit is estimated at £8m ($10m) with £6.3m ($7.9m) coming from the government’s Zero Emissions Vessel and Infrastructure (ZEVI) program.
Retrofitting will be done on Ginny Louise, a 20-metre, diesel-powered Mercurio vessel. The old propulsion system will be replaced with fully electric motors and over 2 MW of onboard battery capacity. The completed vessel will be renamed e-Ginny.
The Ginny Louise was the first vessel ordered from Mercurio Plastics of Cartagena by Tidal Transit when it formed back in early 2011. It was delivered that same year.
A new charging infrastructure will be installed, both through an onshore charging station and an offshore wind turbine-based charger. Once complete, the E-CTV will support crew transfers at an undisclosed offshore UK wind farm for three years.
Read more here.