Cruise News - Maritime News

Havila Kystruten, which won a concession to operate on Norway’s famous coastal route in March 2018, will install a 6.1MWh, air-cooled Orca energy stiorage system from Corvus on each of the four ships currently under construction at Tersan Shipyard in Turkey and Barreras Shipyard in Spain.

The systems will enable the vessels, to be delivered in 2020 and 2021, to sail emissions free five years before the Norwegian government’s ban on greenhouse gas emissions in its protected fjords enters into force

The batteries, the biggest confirmed for any shipping segment, are more than twice the size of the biggest installation currently planned for a ferry - a 70 m vessel for the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration to enter service this year - and are similar to those to be installed on Grimaldi’s G5 ro-ros, due for delivery next year. They will be integrated into a hybrid propulsion and power package designed by Norwegian Electric Systems (NES) that includes four dual-fuel engines.

NES placed the order for the battery pack. Senior vice president Stein Ruben Larsen said: “There is no one-size-fits-all solution for batteries.You have to optimise and compromise to find the the right balance between energy density, capacity, performance and lifecycle to ensure the most optimal solution.

Corvus Energy vice president sales Roger Rosvold added: “Batteries reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs, cut pollution and, with increasing environmental regulations and requirements that will incur costs for air emissions, provide a very compelling business case. As more and more shipowners wake up to this,we expect to see uptake accelerating across the board.”

As reported previously, Havila Kystruten plans to install a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion arrangement on one of the vessels after receiveing funding from Norway’s Pilot-E programme. The propulsion systems onboard all ferries will be designed to integrate hydrogen fuel and fuel cells.