Rolls-Royce Launches New Battery System To Electrify Ships (electrek.co)

Rolls-Royce, a British power system company (not to be confused with the luxury automobile maker), is launching a new battery system to electrify ships. "Rolls-Royce now offers SAVe Energy, a cost competitive, highly efficient and liquid cooled battery system with a modular design that enables the product to scale according to energy and power requirements," the company said in a statement. "SAVe Energy comply with international legislations for low and zero emission propulsion systems." Electrek reports: The company has been working on battery systems for years, but the recent improvements in li-ion batteries are now resulting in a boom of electrification of ships. Andreas Seth, Rolls-Royce, EVP Electrical, Automation and Control for Commercial Marine, said the company expects to deploy more batteries next year than they did over the last 8 years combined: "The electrification of ships is building momentum. From 2010 we have delivered battery systems representing about 15 MWh in total. However now the potential deployment of our patent pending SAVe Energy in 2019 alone is 10-18 MWh."

Seth said that they are delivering the first system to Prestfjord as part of Norway's effort to electrify its maritime transport: "Battery systems have become a key component of our power and propulsions systems, and SAVe Energy is being introduced on many of the projects we are currently working on. This includes the upgrade programme for Hurtigruten's cruise ferries, the advanced fishing vessel recently ordered by Prestfjord and the ongoing retrofits of offshore support vessels. As a system provider we can find the best solution considering both installation and operational cost."

Comments

Re:I expect they'll be as successful as electric c

[MightyMartian]

I agree. Who needs one of those new fangled horseless carriages; noisy, slow, break down a lot. A horse and buggy, boy, it worked for our fathers, grandfathers a long ways back. No need to invest in this troublesome new technology. Mark my words, in fifty years, no one will own these silly horseless carriages!

Re:I expect they'll be as successful as electric c

[drinkypoo]

they'll be as successful as electric cars

I think you're exactly right. Just like electric cars, they will become the desirable vehicle anywhere they are feasible. Short-haul ferry service, for example. It won't be all pure-EVs, though. The key to understanding who will want this lies in the following sentence:

"SAVe Energy comply with international legislations for low and zero emission propulsion systems."

Ports around the world are banning the burning of bunker fuel. How do you solve this problem? You can carry multiple kinds of fuel, or you can use a hybrid system. You don't need full speed within ports, so the energy requirements are far lower there. You charge the batteries while underway, then you switch to electric while within the region controlled by the port. Once you've left, it's back on the bunker fuel. This solves the problem of poor air quality in the port itself, at least for the pollution produced by ships. The other source of poor air quality in ports is from semi-trucks doing port drayage. Anti-idling laws have improved that problem (especially in California) and hybrids and hydrogen vehicles will essentially solve it completely.

So you're right, we're not going to see the ICE depart shipping any time soon. However, we are going to see electrification of basically all ships, just as we're going to see electrification of basically all automobiles.

In the longer-term, floating solar swarms can be installed along trade routes currently followed by container ships, and used to recharge them in mid-journey. Larger and larger percentages of motive power can be supplied to hybrid ships over time, until they are finally using their ICEs only for emergencies or in inclement weather.

Re:Why?

[EETech1]

It lets you size the engine for most efficient cruising, then you use the batteries when accelerating, or whenever you need a burst of power.

You can recover energy when decelerating, or running the engine at less than peak efficiency.

When docking or headed to port, you can go all electric to eliminate emissions close to shore.