Red Funnel moves forward with e-foiling ferry

As well as the vessel, Artemis will also provide the shore power infrastructure. “It has not been too much of a challenge,” comments Ms Collins. “We are going to have a triple charge into the battery storage facility, so when the vessel comes in, we will have a fast dump charge through the day as part of its turnaround and then a bigger charge overnight. It draws 0.3 MW, so is less of a challenge. We might have to upgrade our landside infrastructure (sub stations) for the second vessel coming in.”

But it will be a different story for Red Funnel’s larger ropax fleet. Ms Collins explains, “Our vehicle ferries are towards their end of life, and we have designs ready to send to shipyards. They can’t be fully electric because we do not have the power supply on the mainland grid infrastructure, even though it is feasible, we need 8 MW to recharge them, so we can build them fully electric but without the charge they will be hybrid.” 

Therefore, the company will build them as diesel electric, and they will be designed to be retrofitted. “This means when we eventually have a good power supply at the port, we can go for hydrogen fuel cells or another fuel.”

Asked about the type of fuel the company will choose, she underlines, “We are looking, but we need to be careful because we offer a lifeline service and that is the beauty of the Artemis technology, we are at the bleeding edge of technology which is proven in the smaller designs and doing it in a way in which we can maintain the lifeline service.”

Meanwhile, for Artemis’ Dr Percy, this contract has special significance. He grew up in Southampton. “I always used to come out here [Isle of Wight] on the Red Jet, so have an amazing affinity. I’m so proud to bring the iconic e-foiler here,” he recalls.  

The seeds of Artemis Technologies started growing six years ago, when Dr Percy started out with a mission to decarbonise maritime. He explains, “I started a company with a mission but not a product. I set off with the idea of zero-emissions technology that was economically viable… right from the outset we ended up with a solution to save enough energy to justify the costs of the technology.”  

As well as zero emissions, big passenger benefits include the smoothness and comfort of the ride.  

“We needed early adopters - companies willing to introduce new technology so we are thankful to Red Funnel. Having early adopters is so important as although the economics work well, it is new and others think ‘do we want to take the risk?’ and it’s those testimonials [from early adopters] that make people realise they can make the jump as well.”

The Artemis vessels all have similar centres of gravity and the hulls are the same, but they are customised to meet operators’ needs when it comes to boarding and unboarding and layout. He points out, “There are small differences but one of the things required with new technology is more modularity and consistency than other boats.”

Data is integral to the solution. Dr Percy says, “On our vessels, we collect data continuously to improve ride comfort and flow characteristics. We check for issues and validate the business case: this is how much energy is being used, we provide comfort metrics and we measure accelerations and emissions. You can put a number on them that others can take comfort from and adopt, and it is also useful for us to improve.  

“Red Funnel will know all the data, they will be aware of the emissions they are saving, the fuel they are using. The idea of remote monitoring is common but the difference for us is we have a different type of solution, and the data shows the difference it makes.”  

Dr Percy says the Artemis technology is developing every day. “The control side is always improving, there will be next-generation batteries and drive trains and different manufacturing methods around carbon fibre… we are proud we offer an attractive business case but there is still more we can do, we can drive down costs, we can increase efficiency and improve ride comfort.”

Artemis’ e-foiling solution can bypass shore power issues. “By using much less power, we need much less power from the grid, this is fundamental to the whole viability. Less power needed from the grid means almost the biggest barrier removed. But even so, the ferry will not recharge fast enough from the grid, so we use a battery buffer filled up continually from the speed of the grid. Then from battery to boat, the charge is much faster. We developed the MW marine-approved battery system to do that. It’s an important way the charging side does not make our vessels uncompetitive. We had to find a solution to make them a viable solution which is why we have gone into charging too.”  

Next steps include crew training using Artemis Technologies’ simulator for Red Funnel’s high-speed team. Naming the vessel will be the next milestone, and Red Funnel will be reaching out to customers and local residents to be part of this process.