Posted - Thursday, 11 April 2013 | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
Battery hybrid ships are believed to be an alternative energy system mix
for the shipping of tomorrow. Recent results of a joint DNV and Grieg
Star hybrid ship crane project show less than a year’s payback time and
fuel savings of 30 % - and that you should get your battery on board
sooner rather than later.
With rising fuel prices and impending environmental regulations, the
pressure is on for more efficient and environmentally friendly ships. In
the joint industry project ‘Low Carbon Shipping’, funded by the
Norwegian Research Council, several partners in the Norwegian maritime
sector have come together to innovate for green shipping. The most
recent project results were presented yesterday at a press conference in
Bergen and called attention to the advantages of battery hybrid systems
on board ships. DNV Research & Innovation, DNV’s strategic research
arm, and Norwegian ship owner Grieg Star have reached their conclusions
with optimism and vigour. “Hybrid ships are similar to the better known
hybrid cars, like the Toyota Prius, but have greater advantages. The
payback time on additional investments is much less than the 10 years
expected for a car,” says Eirik Ovrum, a researcher in DNV Research
& Innovation. “In our project, we have concluded that the payback
time is less than a year and that fuel consumption will be reduced by
nearly one third.”
DNV has worked on hybrid ships and batteries for several years and is
starting to see breakthrough results. In the recent collaboration with
Grieg Star, the partners set out to simulate crane operations on one of
Grieg Star’s open hatch vessels. The DNV simulation tool COSSMOS was
used to model a conventional and a battery hybrid power production
system on board the vessel. The simulation included four cranes using a
conventional system of diesel generator sets to produce electric power
while the hybrid system had a lithium-ion battery installed. The
invaluable combination of the ship owner’s knowledge and the detailed
simulation of the second-by-second ship operations yielded accurate
results. The battery hybrid ship used 30 % less fuel, made annual
savings of USD 110,000 and had less than a year’s payback time. The
benefits far exceed the costs associated with it, and support the
continuous trend towards the greater use of electricity and batteries on
board ships.
New rules, tools and advisory services for battery-powered ships have
already been developed by DNV. The Norwegian authorities are also taking
an active role, as they did when gas was being developed as an
alternative fuel, and are pushing the maritime industry by setting
strict requirements to reduce emissions, as well as by offering
incentives. Yards, owners, the supply industry and R&D institutions
are all eager and preparing for the future. “The uplifting results show
that bringing batteries on board ships is not only a viable business
operation, it is also good housekeeping. By reducing both energy
consumption and emissions, we create a win-win situation for ship owners
and the environment, an essential element of a sustainable business
future,” says Jan Øivind Svardal, Vice President Newbuildings &
Projects in Grieg Star.”
Low Carbon Shipping
The Low Carbon Shipping initiative was set up to identify the
cost-effective GHG reduction potential in the world merchant fleet,
investigate barriers to implementation, quantify effects on the climate
and environment and, based on this, to develop decision support tools.
The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and more information can be found here.
Research and Innovation in DNV
Research and innovation is a cornerstone in DNV and a key competitive
factor that enables us to be at the forefront of new technological
developments and provide high quality services to our customers. DNV
invests 6% of its revenue in research and development activities and 1%
of its revenue is dedicated to strategic research with a long-term
focus. A key aspect of the strategic research is to identify main
technology and risk management trends. Another is to develop new
competencies and services for the future. DNV has been working on
battery and hybrid ships for some time, through research, risk analysis,
the development of class rules and project management for the world’s
first hybrid merchant vessel, the Viking Lady. These activities are
proving to be worthwhile and the advantages of maritime batteries are
becoming increasingly clear.
Source: DNV
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