Clean and efficient transportation means less CO2 in the air, lower operating costs and cheaper maintenance overall, so lately more and more transport including public transportation transitions to electric drive. More and more types of transport transition to electric, including ferries. In this case, electrification is especially convenient, since they follow a predetermined route. Thanks to this, it is easy to calculate the necessary battery capacity, which will allow ferries to finish their journey on one charge.
Schottel and Damen Shipyards joined forces to launch two electric ferries in Canada. They will run from the coast to the islands of Amherst and Wolfe on Lake Ontario.
The ships will be equipped with four electric STP 260 FP double propellers from Schottel with an input power of up to 500 kW each. A battery pack for their power supply will be installed on board, and a diesel generator will serve as insurance against an unexpected situation.
It is expected that the electric power will have the same load capacity as conventional ferries with a speed of up to 12 knots (22 km/h), but at the same time will allow reducing CO2 emissions by 7000 tons per year.
An electric drive to Amherst Island with a length of 68 m, a width of 25 m and a capacity of up to 300 people and 42 cars will start running in 2020. The ferry to Wolfe Island is even bigger: it will be 98 meters long, 25 meters wide and can accommodate 399 people and 75 cars. It will be delivered to the port in 2021.
About how effective the replacement of diesel ferries for electric, recently reported the owners of the electric steam Ampere from Norway. In two years of work, they managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 95% and operating costs by 80%.
This reduction in operating costs motivates more and more carriers to transition to electric ferries. Therefore, one of the largest transport conglomerates in Norway, Fjord1, which has 75 ships at its disposal, issued an order from the Havyard Group for the supply of a fleet of electric ferries.