Caterpillar to use electric drivetrains for twin-fin bulk carriers

Built using Cat Marine’s twin fin concept, the vessels will include electric drivetrain technology with a goal to increase efficiency and performance.

The Switch will deliver two permanent magnet (PM) propulsion machines, four PM generators, two DC hubs, two electronic bus links (EBL) and 20 electronic DC breakers (EDCB) for each vessel.

The Switch director for product marketing marine Ville Parpala said the contract was a “major breakthrough” for the company.

“Cat is a globally respected brand and a dream customer to add to our growing client reference list,” said Mr Parpala adding “Our innovative drive train technology has been selected to facilitate peak performance and reliability. We see this as a milestone win.”

He added that the twin fin concept will deliver enhanced power and manoeuvrability, but with decreased energy consumption and emissions which will lead to lower operating expenses.

The compact permanent magnet machines capture mechanical energy and convert it to green, electrical vessel power suited to the limited space available in the slim profile of the twin fins.

The Switch’s DC hubs offer a flexible choice of power generation, energy storage, charging, propulsion and clean power, while the EBL links protect them. The company said the technology’s redundancy is increased by the EBL’s ability to detect, cut and isolate any potential system error within 10 microseconds. EDCBs are installed to protect the individual frequency converters within the DC hubs.

The newbuild bulk carriers feature large internal power plants – with energy supply through The Switch technology – to satisfy the demand for cargo conveyor belts, propulsion and associated vessel operations.

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