To improve their energy efficiency, two of the largest ethane carriers in the world will be equipped with variable speed frequency drives and direct drive permanent magnet shaft generators
Under construction at China’s CSSC Jiangnan shipyard for Chinese owner Pacific Gas (Hong Kong) Holdings Ltd, the two 99,000-m3 very large ethane carriers (VLECs) will each be equipped with a variable speed frequency drive and direct drive permanent magnet (PM) shaft generator supplied by Finnish energy efficiency solution provider WE Tech. WE Tech will deliver the equipment to the shipyard in 2021.
WE Tech Solutions sales manager Martin Andtfolk pointed out that the system was compact and well suited for this type of gas carrier. He claimed the energy efficiency of the variable speed frequency drive and the permanent magnet shaft generator technology “reaches unmatched levels in the marine industry.”
In power take out (PTO) mode, WE Drive enables propulsion machinery to operate in combinator/variable speed while the direct drive PM shaft generator produces electrical power for the vessel’s electrical network. Key benefits of the system are a reduction in operating hours for the auxiliary generators, lowering fuel consumption and maintenance.
“We see WE Tech’s solution both as an environmentally friendly and operationally powerful solution,” said Pacific Gas deputy project director Peng Hui. He said incorporating the variable frequency drive technology and PM shaft generator solution into the vessels will “decrease fuel consumption, operational costs and improve environmental energy efficient performance.”
Energy efficiency will also extend to the VLEC’s newly developed IMO Type B cargo containment system called BrilliancE, developed in close co-operation between Jiangnan Shipyard and class society ABS. BrilliancE is anticipated to have low boil-off rates. Ethane will be burned as fuel by the two dual-fuel newbuild VLECs, H2624 and H2625, which will be delivered in Q4 2021 and Q1 2022.