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Ferry service in the Puget Sound (Seattle Area) has suffered due to delays with electric ferries. The state refuses to maintain their existing fleet. Every line has frequent delays, and the international route which was suspended for “a couple years” in 2021 is now delayed until 2030. The frustration people have with electric isn’t the technology – it’s the dogmatic commitment to technology that isn’t quite ready, ba…
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Meanwhile Norway has 80 electric commuter ferries in service. https://businessnorway.com/articles/norway-showcases-award-w...
The Norwegian ferries appear to be much smaller than the Washington state ferries. Here is the largest e-ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ferry_Ellen And a guide to the WA fleet: https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-10/WSF-FleetGu...
Norway's largest e-ferry is three times larger. https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/02/worlds-largest-electric...
Energy density of batteries is much lower than that of fossil fuels. Which means that the weight of the ships would increase. In addition to the high price of the batteries, potential risks of electrocution, etc. There are intermediate options. Moving away from diesel towards natural gas would dramatically reduce emissions (including sulfur emissions), while retaining high energy density.
Unlike diesel fuel, gas fuels are readily ignitable and present a suffocation hazard in enclosed spaces. This is solvable with installation of a proper gas detection system, but if you've ever dealt with the shipping industry you'll know that maintenance is not top of their list.
Also gas fuels require new port-side storage and handling equipment, and in the case of liquified gas this might require a refrigeration system.
Electricity on the other hand is already port-side, and most ports will have a significant supply available.
As for weight, that's not really a problem for ships, especially tugboats. In the case of tugs the near instant peek power of electric propulsion is a huge advantage.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Norwegian ferries appear to be much smaller than the Washington state ferries. Here is the largest e-ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ferry_Ellen And a guide to the WA fleet: https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-10/WSF-FleetGu...
> Here is the largest e-ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ferry_Ellen Norway's largest e-ferry is three times larger. https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/02/worlds-largest-electric...
Ferry service in the Puget Sound (Seattle Area) has suffered due to delays with electric ferries. The state refuses to maintain their existing fleet. Every line has frequent delays, and the international route which was suspended for “a couple years” in 2021 is now delayed until 2030. The frustration people have with electric isn’t the technology – it’s the dogmatic commitment to technology that isn’t quite ready, ba…
Meanwhile Norway has 80 electric commuter ferries in service. https://businessnorway.com/articles/norway-showcases-award-w...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Here is the largest e-ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ferry_Ellen Norway's largest e-ferry is three times larger. https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/02/worlds-largest-electric...
According to your link (and all other articles I found on that vessel), that ferry is capable of operating all-electric, but actually operating as a hybrid.
Wow, this is a really good paper. Supplementary info is really great too- they get into details down to floating charging port stations as part of the infrastructure. Surprising how much demand is from tugboats. I have questions about how you'd safely hook up 5 MW connections, but it's definitely solvable.
There are IEC 60309 industrial power connectors that can handle 8MW (1000V, 800A). There are also power connectors for cruise ships while they are in dock that handle lots of power. It looks like they use IEC 80005 for shore power. It looks like it is AC only but probably could be made to use DC.
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Not going to work in the EU. Fossil fuels like natural gas are assumed to be the baseline in the Fuel EU directive entering into force in 2025. All required reductions will have to come on top. https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-modes/maritime/deca...
Looks like another intermediate option is bio-methanol. But, both options are very rare, with diesel being the overwhelming majority of international shipping. Shifting to either would be a very significant improvement over the status quo. Whether that meets EU requirements is another matter. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/maersk-buy-bio-m...
Works by forcing say 2% green fuel in 2028 and then a market for shipping companies to buy and sell rights. The requirement will increase every couple of years.
Which means old ships will continue to operate but will have to pay for their emission to greener vessels. Thus we have a very direct gain from going all the way rather than half hearted attempts, allowing modern green vessels to make a business case on selling their credits by being over performers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to your link (and all other articles I found on that vessel), that ferry is capable of operating all-electric, but actually operating as a hybrid.
The Seattle ferries GP was talking are also retrofitted to be hybrid-electric, so that does seem very comparable
There are many large hybrid vessels; notably, this has been common for submarines for a very long time. The largest currently operational diesel-electric (hybrid) submarine seems to be the Chinese Qing-class, of ~3800 tons surfaced displacement.
Ferry service in the Puget Sound (Seattle Area) has suffered due to delays with electric ferries. The state refuses to maintain their existing fleet. Every line has frequent delays, and the international route which was suspended for “a couple years” in 2021 is now delayed until 2030. The frustration people have with electric isn’t the technology – it’s the dogmatic commitment to technology that isn’t quite ready, ba…
The frustration should be that in the US management is functionally incompetent. Proposal: If we do it this way we won't have to spend as much money. Counter: That's really hinky and it probably will blow up in our face. Proposal: Yes but you can't prove it will. So it's what we're going to do. Later: Blows up and goes over budget and takes two to three times longer.