Rolls-Royce, Color Line, Norled and the Norwegian Coastal Administration form research partnership to enable Zero Emission Ships
The R&D project, involving four major players in the maritime sector: Rolls-Royce, Color Line, Norled and the Norwegian Coastal Administration, has now received a NOK 5.9 million grant from the Research Council of Norway’s ENERGIX programme, Rolls-Royce said in its press release.
The ‘Zero Emission Ferry’ project is intended to result in a new electrical system that not only provides more efficient power output and stable operations, but is cheaper to run, easier to integrate – and has a lower environmental impact. That is no mean feat aboard a ship, which typically has a hybrid system that is a thousand times larger than a hybrid passenger car.
The four partners aim to achieve this by investigating new ways of combining systems for energy storage, energy management, onboard energy distribution and recharging. The work is already well underway, and the two ferry operators have specific goals with regard to the outcome.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration Shipping Company was one of the first Norwegian shipowners to use batteries on board. Their multifunctional vessel OV Bøkfjord is equipped with an environment-friendly hybrid system, a new vessel with an even larger battery pack is under construction, and the organisation has an option for a third such vessel.
The Marine division of Rolls-Royce is the consortium’s technology partner, and will provide both financial and man power.
The objective is to develop a system that is commercially attractive for shipowners and as environment-friendly as possible.
The partners behind the ‘Zero Emission Ship’ project represent three different maritime operating environments, and their combined experience forms the basis of the technology that will be developed. The ENERGIX programme demands practical results in return for its support, and the objective is to follow-up this two-year research programme with three full-scale installations.
Established in 2013, ENERGIX is a 10-year programme under the auspices of the Research Council of Norway. The programme aims to provide new knowledge that promotes the long-term and sustainable conversion of existing energy systems to ones based on more energy-efficient solutions using a higher proportion of renewable energy, that provide greater integration with Europe and meet the need for greater flexibility. The programme covers both stationary energy systems and environment-friendly energy for transport purposes.
