Brittany Ferries' newbuilds have world’s biggest marine batteries installed

AYK Energy has installed a 12-MWh Orion+ battery into Brittany Ferries’ Guillaume de Normandie hybrid-electric ferry after installing the same system on its sister ship Saint-Malo at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Weihai.

The vessel has finished sea trials and is heading to Britain, where it will operate on the Portsmouth–Caen route. Saint-Malo’s first sailing is this month on the Portsmouth-St Malo route.

AYK founder Chris Kruger said, “These two ferries demonstrate how marine battery technology is advancing in energy density, safety and speed of installation. The cost of battery-powered vessels is starting to compete with internal combustion engine ships. This is important if electric batteries are to play a key role in the decarbonisation of shipping and help the industry meet IMO’s greenhouse gas emissions-reduction targets.”

Mr Kruger said with pressure piling onto European shipowners from regulators in the form of legislation carrying stiff fines such as FuelEU and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive due to come into force from 2025, going electric is becoming more attractive.

“We have supplied what we call a ’power’ battery for Brittany Ferries, which means it works in combination with fuels such as LNG,” he said. “But now the technology is there to go fully electric, with an ’energy’ battery. This is the future. AYK made a significant step forward by last month launching our newest battery called Pisces. This battery has enough energy density to provide full power to larger vessels such as ferries, OSVs, drill rigs and windfarm vessels.

Mr Kruger added AYK’s new 5,000 m² Chinese factory in Zhuhai played a key role in installing the batteries in such a tight time frame.

“To make and integrate the batteries within four months shows the advantage of being in China,” he said. “I knew we had to build our first major factory in China as it is the global centre of EV and cell technology. Having the cell maker on our doorstep supercharges the speed of the manufacturing process. We are not having to transport the cells from China to Europe to make the battery then back to China to a shipyard. It’s all done in China saving months on the job.”

Mr Kruger said production is ramping up at AYK’s factory with sales already projected to reach 100 MWh in 2024. He said the company is now actively looking at building gigafactories in Europe and America to support the growth of the business.

Mr Kruger developed the battery for the first hybrid propulsion ferry Princess Benedikte, and the first fully electric ferry, Ampere in 2012.