Ferry market spearheads hydrogen, batteries and Chinese construction

Ferries are at the forefront of the revolution in alternative power sources, with many of the latest designs coming out of Chinese shipyards

The ferry sector is one of the leading maritime sectors when it comes to the use of alternative fuel, from LNG to batteries and potentially hydrogen.

The Norwegian ferry sector in particular is a powerhouse when it comes to battery use. In 2018, the Norwegian Parliament announced it had adopted a resolution to halt emissions from cruise ships and ferries in the Norwegian world heritage fjords as soon as technically possible, and no later than 2026. Operators must conform to this ruling and this is driving a push towards battery power as a standard means of propulsion. And the technology being developed can be adapted by other ferry operators worldwide.

A good example of this is Future of the Fjords, the first carbon-fibre vessel in the world to be fully electric. It is also the first vessel of its kind to offer completely emission-free transport through the Western Norwegian UNESCO World Heritage-listed region, and the ship’s builder states that the technical solutions deployed on the vessel can be used on ferries worldwide: “The technology solutions from Future of The Fjords are transferable to other vessel concepts and marine industries,” says Brodene Aa technical manager Anstein Aa.

Mr Aa highlights the key transferable solutions, including:

- The propulsion system, where the use of energy from batteries has led to the development of a new control system and components. “This has given new commercial solutions that can be transferred either directly or in a modified version to other types of vessels.” says Mr Aa.

- The manoeuvring, steering and control systems which can be transferred to other types of vessels, such as high-speed passenger boats.

- The development and modification of inverters, chargers and motor drives adapted and approved to the maritime sector, which have a direct transfer value where minimal weight or space requirements are a factor.

- The charging solution, PowerDock, which was developed because capacity in the local grid was limited and unable to provide the charging power needed by Future of the Fjords. Therefore, the ferry operator and shipyard came up with the PowerDock, which charges steadily throughout the day.

Mr Aa comments: “Infrastructure with charging facilities are in operation in the current operating areas of Flåm and Gudvangen. Together with charging stations on Norwegian ferry quays, these form the start of a large-scale national development of this type of infrastructure, especially in places with poor network capacity. The PowerDock concept is very energy efficient, can be scaled in size and capacity and is also a removable installation. All these factors mean that the use of PowerDock is highly relevant both nationally and internationally.”

Move to hydrogen

The next phase in the development of the Seasight class is to use hydrogen as the energy carrier and fuel-cell technology as the basis for a zero-emission propulsion solution, according to Mr Aa, who says: “In many Norwegian fjords, there is great production and overcapacity in electrical energy. This overcapacity is an argument for an increased focus on battery or hydrogen-powered passenger vessels. The use of locally produced energy has a positive effect both environmentally and economically. The wider deployment of the charging facilities strengthens the commercial value of battery-powered vessels and positively affects second-hand values.”

This is not the only project to pioneer the development of hydrogen in the ferry sector. Norwegian ferry operator Norled is developing hydrogen power by constructing two hybrid ferries: one to be powered by liquid hydrogen and another to be propelled by compressed hydrogen. These will be the first ferries powered by hydrogen in Norway.

“The technology solutions from Future of The Fjords are transferable to other vessel concepts and marine industries”

The second ferry, which is being developed as part of the European innovation Flagships project, is likely to run on compressed hydrogen. Norled project manager Ivan Ostvik says: “We need to develop the hydrogen value chain in Norway; the liquid supply is from Europe [and] we see more and more ships asking for hydrogen.”

Members of the Flagships project (pictured) are developing a ferry that will run on hydrogen

Norled is working with partners to develop the supply chains and infrastructure needed across two projects: an initiative working on ‘blue hydrogen’, based on natural gas, steam forming and carbon capture to create hydrogen; and ‘green hydrogen’, using electrolysis to create a hydrogen supply value chain.

Mr Ostvik says the benefits of using compressed gas include that it “carries four times more than liquid but in the same space and compressed is cheaper than liquid in Norway at the moment.”

He also highlighted how hydrogen complements batteries as the density of the latter is not enough to power car ferries and fast ferries on its own. Both ferry newbuilds will be a hybrid mix of batteries and hydrogen. The first project – the one using liquid hydrogen – will be split 50/50 between batteries and fuel cells.

Norled is aiming to kickstart hydrogen use in the ferry and wider shipping sector. Mr Ostvik says: “We are using these first projects to get the energy companies interested and present a future market for them… so that they invest in hydrogen and its production in Norway.”

Ropax milestone

Elsewhere, The Hyseas III hydrogen-fuelled ropax project has reached a major milestone after consortium partner Ballard Power Systems Europe shipped a containerised fuel cell to Kongsberg Maritime’s test lab in Norway.

According to Interferry, which is involved in the project, the containerised fuel cell has been commissioned and connected to the energy lab that will simulate a range of dynamic loads for testing.

The Hyseas III consortium is an innovation project funded by the EU’s flagship Horizon 2020 research programme to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cells can be successfully integrated with a proven marine hybrid-electric drive system, along with associated hydrogen storage and bunkering arrangements. Interferry explained: “This will be done by developing, constructing, testing and validating a full-sized drivetrain (from fuel cells back to the thrusters) on land, and then integrating it into a newbuild roro passenger ferry for the Orkney Islands Kirkwall-Shapinsay service.”

While using hydrogen in a fuel cell only emits water and no harmful emissions, the abundance of renewable electricity from wind and wave generation in Orkney also facilitates emissions-free hydrogen production, resulting in zero emissions from well to wake. Interferry explained that the fuel cells that will be used have been proven in service for more than a decade in over 100 buses, in some cases reaching more than 30,000 operating hours and covering millions of kilometres.

Scotland’s Ferguson Marine Engineering is to build the Hyseas III ferry, which it says is the world’s first seagoing car and passenger ferry fuelled by hydrogen.

Port Glasgow-based Ferguson Marine successfully led a European consortium in a bid for EU funding support to pave the way for building and launching the ferry. The development is expected to cost around €12.6M (US$14.6M) of which €9.3M (US$10.4M) has been awarded by the Horizon 2020 fund.

The HySeas III consortium also includes University of St Andrews, Orkney Islands Council, Kongsberg Maritime (Norway), Ballard Power Systems Europe (Denmark), McPhy (France) and DLR - German Aerospace Center.

China orderbook booms

The orderbook for ferries being built in China has grown rapidly over the last few years and this is set to continue.

As demonstrated by BRL Consultants, the orderbook shows a wide range of ferries, with many of the contracts signed last year. The most recent ones, signed in 2019, include one for Samso-Linien and one for Aran Island Ferries. Eleven ferries have also been contracted for Chinese domestic companies.

“We need to develop the hydrogen value chain in Norway”

TT-Line ordered one ropax ferry last year and one this year with Jinling shipyard. Jinling is also building a series of ferries for Finnlines and Grimaldi Group, all signed in 2018, as well as two ferries for DFDS, set to be delivered this year.

Other notable contracts include the series of ropax ferries AVIC Weihai is building for Stena RoRo and Viking Line’s LNG-fuelled ferry, being built at Xiamen Shipyard and due for delivery in 2020.

As well as a booming orderbook, Chinese yards are demonstrating complex technology in their construction practices. Rederi AB Gotland’s Visborg was delivered this year and is the first LNG-powered ropax built in a Chinese yard; it is also the largest LNG-powered ferry in domestic service.

The vessel is an evolution of earlier designs built in the same yard for the operator, but exhibits more complex features such as safe return to port. Furthermore, the ship reached 31 knots in trials, a top speed-ranking for an LNG-powered conventional ropax vessel.

It uses 7% less propulsion power than other vessels in the fleet but its gross tonnage increased by almost 9%. It was built by GSI shipyard and designed by OSK ShipTech, with Steen Friis Design, part of OSK Group, carrying out the interior design.

The partnership between European companies and Chinese yards continues with Stena, which has ordered eight ropax ships with four optional vessels at AVIC Weihai shipyard, representing the shipyard’s first ever ferry order.

Finnish naval architect and ship design company Deltamarin, which has a close relationship with AVIC Weihai Shipyard, has designed Stena’s ferries.

AVIC Weihai Shipyard vice president Eric Deng says: “We focus on high value-added and high-tech products such as ropax, roro ship and engineering ships and aim to be a first-class and international shipyard in this field. Because of the close relationship with Deltamarin, the size of the organisation and the methods they employ led to a highly technologically driven way of approaching design and delivery that we sustain today.”