Post by lowell on Jul 4, 2021 3:01:11 GMT -6
Source Bloomberg
'Jump on a ferry in Norway and it’s increasingly likely that the rumble of a diesel engine will have been replaced by the quiet rumble of an electric motor.
The Scandinavian nation, already a leader in electric cars, has been churning out zero-emissions ships in recent years that could one day be used all over the world. Currently, ships mostly ply on major domestic routes, especially on the mountainous west coast where ferries are an essential part of the transport network.
But they have already made Norway the world’s most electrified shipping nation, thanks to an aggressive government push to cut marine emissions. According to a state advisory body, about three-quarters of the 274 ships in the country globally run on batteries. The Green Shipping Program, a public-private partnership that supports the transition, says its fleet of 31 full-electric car ferries is expected to nearly double by the end of the year. Even the sightseeing tours that cruise Norway’s famous fjords are converting to battery power.
On Saturday morning in Stavanger along Norway’s west coast, a new yacht, the Rygerelektra, is preparing to tour some of the nearby fjords in the harbour. 42 meters long with a seating capacity of approximately 300, the ferry is owned and operated by Rodney Fjord Cruises. It is one of a group of ships from several major Norwegian marine companies driving a shift toward zero-emissions fleets and driving Norway’s ambitious economic reinvestment away from an alternative energy source from oil and gas.
“We have this closeness to the sea in Norway, and the pinnacle of Norwegian business has always emerged in some way or the other,” said Silje Berekstein, chief sustainability officer of 3 Norske AS and a former officer at Nord-Shipping, a biennial maritime business. it is said. Fair held in Oslo. Today, Berexton says, “the need to find new, ecologically and economically sustainable ways of doing business in the coming years” is gaining widespread acceptance among public and private entities, and is helping to build the right momentum. Direction.
When Riggerelektra debuted last summer, a state broadcaster in Norway described it as the fastest and longest-distance electric ferry in the world, a daunting feat for battery-powered machinery. Just like with electric automobiles, range anxiety, or reckvidengst, is a real fear, admits Lars Rodney, chief executive officer of the cruise operator. “You have to make sure you can come back!”
A large liquid crystal display on the bridge illuminates the battery status of the vessel at all times. Rygerelektra usually starts with an 85% charge. After three hours, 40 knots round trip through the fjords—it runs at about 15 knots, but, the company says, can handle 23 knots in speed tests—with about 15% battery remaining The ferry winds back to Stavanger.
Rygerelektra was built by Brodren AA, a small family shipbuilding firm tucked inside a fjord a few hundred miles north of Stavanger. The company made a name for itself in the early 2000s as a pioneer in the use of carbon fiber fast ferries, ships that largely cover trunk routes between cities along Norway’s west coast. They have more than 60 such ships today, covering deliveries in Norway and Asia – workhorses that move quickly, and weigh much less than their counterparts made from traditional metals.
Over the years, Brodrain has branched out into all-electric ships, providing its first in 2018, a sightseeing yacht called Future of the Fjords. It took the company only two years to make the leap to a fully battery-powered ship. Having built a predecessor ship, Vision of the Fords, which uses a hybrid engine.
High-efficiency carbon fiber ships have allowed the firm to begin exploring battery-powered alternatives. “We are going through different phases like the car industry,” says Lars Giemstadt, deputy CEO of Brodrain. “The first step was reducing emissions over conventional fuels. In a test we did, carbon fiber reduced fuel costs by 40%. And then we moved on to the next steps.”
Transport by sea is important for people and goods in Norway’s maritime regions. The road trip is slow, given the landscape and fjords. Although air service is an option to reach some smaller communities, many rely on ferries. The Norwegian government has set a target of halving emissions from domestic shipping and fisheries by 2030.
For now, Norway’s fast, long-distance ferries—which traverse 30 nautical miles—plus the ocean between large coastal cities—still run on diesel. The energy density of even the most advanced batteries is not enough. On Rygerelektra, an entire room, like some kind of science fiction walk-in closet, is filled with batteries hidden behind white metal doors marked with high voltage warnings. A series of fans spun at high speed to keep everything quiet inside, drowning out most of the other sound. All are no bigger than a large suitcase to power a motor.
Companies such as Brodrain have focused on further developing and refining the technology, whether by turning to alternative fuel sources such as hydrogen, using more efficient, weight-reducing designs, improving battery technology, or something of all. by combination. “We’re just getting started,” Giemstad says. “As soon as we advance the technology a little bit and we have concepts that can prove distance and speed are a little bit higher than they are today, then I think it will come with a real force.”
Norway’s oil and gas wealth allows the country to make an ambitious push away from fossil fuels. The government sees this as a time for plotting a post-oil future that would allow Norway to maintain its current standard of living using other revenue generators (and transportation methods). Of course, the oil industry remains important, but it is well understood that it will not continue as usual.
European Economic Area regulations prevent Norway from directly subsidizing many of these projects, but it could reduce the financial risks to domestic clean energy technology and offset the high cost of purchasing advanced electric ships. In 2019, ENOVA, a state-owned enterprise that distributes funds to accelerate the transition to clean energy, made nearly $638 million in new commitments, more than double that of the previous two years. Around 1,500 different projects were funded, including the introduction of fully electric tugboats in Oslo. Rdne received a grant of approximately $2.2 million to cover the cost of Rygerelektra.
Government restrictions are also accelerating the shift. Diesel ships will be banned from all UNESCO-designated fjords in Norway starting in 2026. Some operators have already switched. The Lysefjord, where Rygerelektra operates, doesn’t currently fall under that ban, but Lars Rdne thinks it’s going to expand eventually, everywhere beyond the UNESCO sites.
“In Norway, we need to transition from oil exports to sustainable products and services, while still utilizing the potential we have gained from the oil industry,” says Pia Melling, vice president of sales and marketing at autonomous shipping company Masterly. “We want to compete in renewable energy, and especially in clean shipping.” Masserly’s vision is one of zero-emissions, autonomous ships that carry everything from passengers to ocean containers around Norway.
Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway. The quaint town has also traditionally been a shipbuilding centre. A huge tanker is under construction across the water from the port of Stavanger, its hull still a skeleton in parts. Rodney worries that the lack of a high-voltage charging system on the dock is a major obstacle for him.
This will become a more pressing concern as Norway’s fleet of electric ships grows. For example, local ferry operator Columbus has announced plans to be completely emissions-free by 2024. With this in mind, Rodney is working with the energy company Lyce, as well as future electric-boat operators, to build infrastructure in Stavanger. – Charging multiple ships at once.
Local governments can be conservative when it comes to installing new electrical infrastructure. “There’s a lot of politics out there about what we’re allowed to do here,” says Rodney, who expects the new fast charger to be online at some point this year. “We’re taking longer than we’d like. But there is a good progress now. “
Charging infrastructure and inadequate electrical grid capacity are emerging as a serious potential problem in the way of all-electric transport beyond shipping. A future world in which trucks, ferries and other commercial operators run on electricity is expected to add additional demand to the existing grid. Yet there is growing resistance in Norway to offshore wind power – possibly needed to generate more clean energy.
Still solutions are emerging. Another Brodren electric ferry that runs to the remote town of Flam, cruising the UNESCO-listed Norofjord, faced the problem that the local grid might not be able to support the kind of voltage it needed to stick to its schedule. Will need to charge quickly to stay. . So a special charging dock was developed, something like a power brick for a phone except the very large, which would slowly charge the grid continuously, and then fast charge the ship directly whenever it arrived in the dock. '
The Scandinavian nation, already a leader in electric cars, has been churning out zero-emissions ships in recent years that could one day be used all over the world. Currently, ships mostly ply on major domestic routes, especially on the mountainous west coast where ferries are an essential part of the transport network.
But they have already made Norway the world’s most electrified shipping nation, thanks to an aggressive government push to cut marine emissions. According to a state advisory body, about three-quarters of the 274 ships in the country globally run on batteries. The Green Shipping Program, a public-private partnership that supports the transition, says its fleet of 31 full-electric car ferries is expected to nearly double by the end of the year. Even the sightseeing tours that cruise Norway’s famous fjords are converting to battery power.
On Saturday morning in Stavanger along Norway’s west coast, a new yacht, the Rygerelektra, is preparing to tour some of the nearby fjords in the harbour. 42 meters long with a seating capacity of approximately 300, the ferry is owned and operated by Rodney Fjord Cruises. It is one of a group of ships from several major Norwegian marine companies driving a shift toward zero-emissions fleets and driving Norway’s ambitious economic reinvestment away from an alternative energy source from oil and gas.
“We have this closeness to the sea in Norway, and the pinnacle of Norwegian business has always emerged in some way or the other,” said Silje Berekstein, chief sustainability officer of 3 Norske AS and a former officer at Nord-Shipping, a biennial maritime business. it is said. Fair held in Oslo. Today, Berexton says, “the need to find new, ecologically and economically sustainable ways of doing business in the coming years” is gaining widespread acceptance among public and private entities, and is helping to build the right momentum. Direction.
When Riggerelektra debuted last summer, a state broadcaster in Norway described it as the fastest and longest-distance electric ferry in the world, a daunting feat for battery-powered machinery. Just like with electric automobiles, range anxiety, or reckvidengst, is a real fear, admits Lars Rodney, chief executive officer of the cruise operator. “You have to make sure you can come back!”
A large liquid crystal display on the bridge illuminates the battery status of the vessel at all times. Rygerelektra usually starts with an 85% charge. After three hours, 40 knots round trip through the fjords—it runs at about 15 knots, but, the company says, can handle 23 knots in speed tests—with about 15% battery remaining The ferry winds back to Stavanger.
Rygerelektra was built by Brodren AA, a small family shipbuilding firm tucked inside a fjord a few hundred miles north of Stavanger. The company made a name for itself in the early 2000s as a pioneer in the use of carbon fiber fast ferries, ships that largely cover trunk routes between cities along Norway’s west coast. They have more than 60 such ships today, covering deliveries in Norway and Asia – workhorses that move quickly, and weigh much less than their counterparts made from traditional metals.
Over the years, Brodrain has branched out into all-electric ships, providing its first in 2018, a sightseeing yacht called Future of the Fjords. It took the company only two years to make the leap to a fully battery-powered ship. Having built a predecessor ship, Vision of the Fords, which uses a hybrid engine.
High-efficiency carbon fiber ships have allowed the firm to begin exploring battery-powered alternatives. “We are going through different phases like the car industry,” says Lars Giemstadt, deputy CEO of Brodrain. “The first step was reducing emissions over conventional fuels. In a test we did, carbon fiber reduced fuel costs by 40%. And then we moved on to the next steps.”
Transport by sea is important for people and goods in Norway’s maritime regions. The road trip is slow, given the landscape and fjords. Although air service is an option to reach some smaller communities, many rely on ferries. The Norwegian government has set a target of halving emissions from domestic shipping and fisheries by 2030.
For now, Norway’s fast, long-distance ferries—which traverse 30 nautical miles—plus the ocean between large coastal cities—still run on diesel. The energy density of even the most advanced batteries is not enough. On Rygerelektra, an entire room, like some kind of science fiction walk-in closet, is filled with batteries hidden behind white metal doors marked with high voltage warnings. A series of fans spun at high speed to keep everything quiet inside, drowning out most of the other sound. All are no bigger than a large suitcase to power a motor.
Companies such as Brodrain have focused on further developing and refining the technology, whether by turning to alternative fuel sources such as hydrogen, using more efficient, weight-reducing designs, improving battery technology, or something of all. by combination. “We’re just getting started,” Giemstad says. “As soon as we advance the technology a little bit and we have concepts that can prove distance and speed are a little bit higher than they are today, then I think it will come with a real force.”
Norway’s oil and gas wealth allows the country to make an ambitious push away from fossil fuels. The government sees this as a time for plotting a post-oil future that would allow Norway to maintain its current standard of living using other revenue generators (and transportation methods). Of course, the oil industry remains important, but it is well understood that it will not continue as usual.
European Economic Area regulations prevent Norway from directly subsidizing many of these projects, but it could reduce the financial risks to domestic clean energy technology and offset the high cost of purchasing advanced electric ships. In 2019, ENOVA, a state-owned enterprise that distributes funds to accelerate the transition to clean energy, made nearly $638 million in new commitments, more than double that of the previous two years. Around 1,500 different projects were funded, including the introduction of fully electric tugboats in Oslo. Rdne received a grant of approximately $2.2 million to cover the cost of Rygerelektra.
Government restrictions are also accelerating the shift. Diesel ships will be banned from all UNESCO-designated fjords in Norway starting in 2026. Some operators have already switched. The Lysefjord, where Rygerelektra operates, doesn’t currently fall under that ban, but Lars Rdne thinks it’s going to expand eventually, everywhere beyond the UNESCO sites.
“In Norway, we need to transition from oil exports to sustainable products and services, while still utilizing the potential we have gained from the oil industry,” says Pia Melling, vice president of sales and marketing at autonomous shipping company Masterly. “We want to compete in renewable energy, and especially in clean shipping.” Masserly’s vision is one of zero-emissions, autonomous ships that carry everything from passengers to ocean containers around Norway.
Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway. The quaint town has also traditionally been a shipbuilding centre. A huge tanker is under construction across the water from the port of Stavanger, its hull still a skeleton in parts. Rodney worries that the lack of a high-voltage charging system on the dock is a major obstacle for him.
This will become a more pressing concern as Norway’s fleet of electric ships grows. For example, local ferry operator Columbus has announced plans to be completely emissions-free by 2024. With this in mind, Rodney is working with the energy company Lyce, as well as future electric-boat operators, to build infrastructure in Stavanger. – Charging multiple ships at once.
Local governments can be conservative when it comes to installing new electrical infrastructure. “There’s a lot of politics out there about what we’re allowed to do here,” says Rodney, who expects the new fast charger to be online at some point this year. “We’re taking longer than we’d like. But there is a good progress now. “
Charging infrastructure and inadequate electrical grid capacity are emerging as a serious potential problem in the way of all-electric transport beyond shipping. A future world in which trucks, ferries and other commercial operators run on electricity is expected to add additional demand to the existing grid. Yet there is growing resistance in Norway to offshore wind power – possibly needed to generate more clean energy.
Still solutions are emerging. Another Brodren electric ferry that runs to the remote town of Flam, cruising the UNESCO-listed Norofjord, faced the problem that the local grid might not be able to support the kind of voltage it needed to stick to its schedule. Will need to charge quickly to stay. . So a special charging dock was developed, something like a power brick for a phone except the very large, which would slowly charge the grid continuously, and then fast charge the ship directly whenever it arrived in the dock. '