Electric Ferry
Sweden’s Green City Ferries is preparing to launch what it claims is the world’s first “supercharged” electric passenger ferry. Carrying 100 passengers between Solna Strand and Gamla Stan, the Movitz will need just 10 minutes to charge its batteries between 1-hour long service runs. That’s perfect for a ferry operation, because it means it’ll be charged by the time passengers have embarked and disembarked. With extremely low maintenance requirements and reduced running costs, the ferry will reportedly save some 50,000 litres of diesel and 130 tons of carbon emissions into the bargain.
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Quick-charging electrics make excellent sense in a short-distance ferry application like the 7.5-km run the Movitz will be taking on. With two 125 kW POD motors on board driven by some 180 kWh worth of high-tech Nilar Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries, the Movitz will operate for up to an hour between recharges, and will quick charge in just ten minutes as passengers get on and off. This kind of usage cycle negates the need for huge, expensive and heavy battery packs.
Claimed to be the first "supercharged" electric passenger ferry in the world, the Movitz will launch in August this year, while Norway is expecting the launch of a similarly "supercharged" but much larger car-carrying electric ferry in 2015.
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The majority of existing ferries are diesel-driven with high emissions of CO2, NOX and health-hazardous particles, but the latest electric marine technology produces near-zero emissions. An electric driveline is far more energy-efficient than a conventional diesel driveline, lowering operational costs.
Tax varies by country, but there is often no tax on commercial diesel fuel and there are few incentives for using electricity or lowering emissions. |
This is set to change as the demand for environment-friendly solutions increases. As politicians become aware of this technology they are likely to restrict emissions for future traffic tenders.
When building a new ferry the prices for electric and conventional drivelines are comparable. When converting an existing ferry, there are many EU and national grants available to help. More information from Echandia Marine
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