Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2012)

40Maritime Reporter & Engineering News While the world ?revolutionary? is too often and liberally bandied about in thedescription of new products, Vancouver, BC-based Corvus Energy arguably has created a revolutionary battery for the maritime market, a power source with a power density, longevity and durability which has brought it from concept tomajor player on leading maritime hybrid projects in less than five years. What is Corvus? Corvus Energy is a manufacturer of high power lithium polymer batteries used in the hybridization of heavy ma- chinery such as commercial vessels. Sim- ilar in chemistry to the batteries found inthe iPhone, these are not just any batter- ies, they are ?smart? batteries according to the company, able to communicate with each other, with the application they power, with the grid, with the source of energy that charges them, and with their human manager who controls them.?I think what makes us unique is sim- ply that we didn?t come to this business from a battery perspective; we came at it from a boating perspective,? said Brent Perry, CEO, Corvus Energy. The company started as an idea in 2006. Perry, who enjoyed a career as a boat builder on several continents, was increasingly asked by his customers for hybrid boats. An exhaustive search for a battery source that could help create thesolution turned up empty; even direct ap- peals to battery manufacturers elicited a response which said that commercialmaritime was ?too niche of a market.? So Perry and his co-founders embarked on the path to design and build their own so- lution, and to date the company is work- ing on projects ranging in size from6.5kWh up to multiple megawatt scale installations, with its batteries in hybrid marine applications soon being directlyresponsible for emissions reductions inthe range of thousands of tons annually. Building a Better BatteryManufacturing any product for the mar- itime market means engineering a solu- tion that can take the unique rigors of working day in, day out, in one of the most demanding and corrosive environ- ments on the planet. According to Perry, when he first embarked on the mission to find battery solutions for his boatbuilding customers that sought hybrids, he found no batteries rugged or serviceable enoughthat combined the necessary power and long-life capability to withstand the rig-ors of the marine environ. ?The conditions in maritime are harshand unique,? Perry said, and offer many factors to consider, including: Atmosphere: Extreme weather, high salt, high humidity. ?We knew it had to be a fully sealed product, capable ofshedding heat as if it were fully vented.? Energy capacity: ?If you don?t per- form as well as a diesel engine, then youare not a true hybrid. The operator should never be able to tell a difference if they are running on diesel or battery power.? Communication: The batteries have to be able to communicate ? with eachother in a network, with the operators ? to properly gauge performance. Durability: ?Our casings start at 30and go up to 100g impact. They are built to deal with the rigors maritime offers, and there are no moving parts in the bat- tery to fail.? In addition, they must operate well for a long time. Corvus? shortest life battery is seven years; it?s longest 20 years. While the solution is elegant and the reference list chock full of some of thebiggest, most progressive names in mar- itime and growing, running a start-up does not come without challenge.?Simply put, when you talk about mak-ing a decision (to build a company), when sitting around the table everyone can agree on the correct course,? said Perry. ?The real pressure comes when you are under pressure to deliver. Main- taining the integrity of your values and corporate culture while you live and work through the initial growth ? where every dollar made and every dollar spent is crit- ical ? I think is the greatest challenge. In-valuable for me was my previous experience in the maritime industry, be- cause in the marine industry, your repu- tation is everything. We are lucky to have staff and partners that are focused on get- ting it right.? TECHNICAL FEATURE BATTERY POWER The Corvus Power PlayCorvus Energy has quickly evolved as a leader in the marine hybrid propulsion market, developing state-of- the-art battery system solutions on some of the world?s biggest projects. And this is just the beginning. By Greg Trauthwein, Editor REVOLUTIONARY: c : constituting or bringing about amajor or fundamental change < a rev-olutionary new product>(http://www.merriam-webster.com) ?We don?t really sell batteries. We look at the total project and help to create a total solution, where as other battery manufacturers tend to be commoditysellers.?Brent Perry, CEO, Corvus Energy MR#8 (34-41):MR Template 8/9/2012 9:22 AM Page 40