The Week in Alt Fuels: The grid is the limit

A 41 MWh battery ferry entered service and a 151 MWh container ship design won approval this week, but the harder part is getting enough power to the quay.

Battery-electric ships are moving beyond short-hop ferries. This week a 41 MWh ferry began crossing the River Plate, a fast ferry for the Strait of Gibraltar was launched, an electric barge was ordered for Vietnam and a 1,700 TEU battery container ship design was approved. Each depends on power ashore.

Ferries first Ferry operator Buquebus’s China Zorrilla has begun sailing between Argentina and Uruguay with a 41 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery system. It can sail for up to 1.5 hours on battery power.

Norwegian battery maker Corvus Energy, which supplied the system, said it is the largest marine battery installation currently in operation on a ship. Corvus said the installation has around four times the capacity of any battery previously fitted to a commercial vessel, and that the ferry is South America’s first fully electric ship of its kind.

This story was originally published by Hellenic Shipping News. Read the full story at Hellenic Shipping News →