Marine electrification is making a splash
Alex Greig, Project Manager
The Electric Vehicle (EV) market is hotter than ever, and with recent advancements in battery technology, it’s showing no sign of slowing down. It’s not uncommon to see electric cars, bicycles, and even scooters on roads and pathways. However, a lesser-known area of the emerging EV market is marine Vessel Electrification. This includes the electrification of many different vessel types, including passenger ferries, cargo ferries, and tugboats.
Electrification has been widely recognized and understood in transportation design as an effective solution to reducing carbon, contributing to zero-emissions goals set by governments around the world. By integrating electrical solutions in vessel and terminal designs, EV marine fleets become more resilient and flexible to adapt to future operational, environmental and regulatory needs.
As with EV cars, there are two available options for Vessel Electrification: full-electric and plug-in hybrid. A full electric EV operates completely on battery power, whereas a plug-in hybrid EV operates partially on battery power, and partially on fossil fuel. Both options require a large Energy Storage System (ESS) to supply electrical power. A common vessel ESS capacity is 5MWh, but typical marine ESS capacities range between 100kWh (for comparison, a Tesla Model 3 ESS is 75kWh), and 10+ MWh (roughly 130 Tesla Model 3 ESS).
A significant challenge of Vessel Electrification is to provide reliable high-power shore charging levels. Shore charging levels can vary greatly, but the majority range between 1-2 MW (roughly 4-8x a Tesla Supercharger). Most existing marine terminals were not designed to support the high-power charging levels required for Vessel Electrification, so a major overhaul of the electrical distribution system is needed in order to achieve these considerable shore power charging levels. This is known as Terminal Electrification.
With the need for Vessel Electrification fast approaching, it is crucial that electrical infrastructure at terminals be upgraded to support high power shore charging of battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vessels. This includes: Utility Service Upgrade, Electrical Infrastructure Upgrade, Shore ESS (optional), and Shore Charging System. Each one of these four components must be carefully optimized to allow for EV marine vessels to charge efficiently and safely, long into the future.
With the combination of both rising fuel costs and continual breakthroughs in battery technology, battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vessels are pioneering the wave of the future. With effective foresight, planning and execution, terminal operators won’t get lost in the wake.
