Dutch shipowner Tharsis Sea-River Shipping has installed two eConowind Twinfoil units on diesel-electric cargo vessel M/V Tharsis
The project is the last of five under the Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion (WASP) project, backed by part of €5.4M (US$6.1M) in funding under the EU Interreg North Sea region programme, part of the European Regional Development Fund. The effort brings together universities and wind-assist technology providers with shipowners to install, research, trial and validate the operational performance of a selection of wind propulsion solutions.
“Over the next few years, the system will be tested and optimised under the Interreg WASP project and we expect it will serve as an example of how wind assistance can help shortsea shipping move towards zero emissions,” said Tharsis Sea-River Shipping in a media post.
In announcing the project in 2020, Tharsis Sea-River Shipping said the project would involve installing two wind-assist 3 m x 9 m TwinFoil units on its 88-m, 2,364-dwt diesel-electric general cargo vessel.
“We always try to use as little fuel as possible on our weekly voyage from Duisburg to the east coast of the UK,” said Tharsis Sea-River Shipping co-owner Jan Albert Bosma. “Using currents and tides and optimising our schedule. Adding wind-assisted propulsion will further reduce our fuel consumption. Especially interesting is to see how much the tipping point of starting a second generator will shift.”
The eConowind-units are both integrated in a specially designed aluminium Flatrack from which the folding TwinFoil’s can be deployed. The TwinFoil is a wing with a flap principle similar to those used by aircraft during landing and take-off. Setting the wings optimally relative to the wind will be done by a small third steering-wing, which is fast and reliable.
Netherlands-based Next Generation Shipyards installed the system.
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