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Clean Carbon

World's first electrical car and passenger ferry powered by batteries enters service in Norway

Published: 31 May 2015
battery ferry

Maritime Global News reports today that the world's first electrical car and passenger ferry powered by batteries has entered service in Norway, paving the way for more emission-free ferries along Norway's coastline.

Fantastic reduction in emissions

The new ferry travels six kilometers across Sognefjord between Lavik and Oppedal, 34 times a day, with each trip taking around 20 minutes. There is scope for at least 50 other routes currently able to sustain battery-operated vessels. The Norled ferry uses just 150 kWh per route, which corresponds to three days use of electricity in a standard Norwegian household.
Built in conjunction with shipbuilder Fjellstrand, Siemens installed the vessel's electric propulsion system and put up charging stations with lithium-ion batteries which are charged from hydro power. With the change to battery, shipowner Norled is reducing the cost of fuel by up to 60 percent, Siemens have said.

Siemens and Norled have installed three lithium-ion battery packs: one on board the ferry itself, and the other two at either end of the route, on the piers, to serve as buffers. The 260-kWh-units supply electricity to the ferry while it waits. Once it departs, the battery recoups the energy from the grid until the ship comes back again to drop off passengers and recharge. These charging stations are housed in small buildings about the size of newsstands. The ship's onboard batteries are recharged directly from the grid at night when the ferry is not in use. Each battery pack corresponds to the effect of 1,600 standard car batteries.The Norled ferry will consume around two million kWh per year, whereas a traditional diesel ferry consumes at least one million liters of diesel a year and emits 570 tons of carbon dioxide and 15 metric tons of nitrogen oxides.

We are both optimistic and excited about this technology and how it will help shape the future of environmentally friendly maritime technology

Mario Azar - CEO of the Siemens Business Unit Oil & Gas and Marine
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