Page 46: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2015)

Norway

It’s ElectricIt’s Electric

Norwegian Car Ferry

Debuts World’s First

All-Electric

Propulsion System

Charging Station Connected: The automated vacuum mooring system.

by Kerry Darnell, Commercial Business Development, Siemens Marine and Shipbuilding orled Ampere, the world’s ? rst Matching Load Demands Norled Ampere’s operating ef? ciencies pere’s noise and vibration, compared all-electric car ferry, began While the Siemens solution delivers and reducing its power requirements. It’s to diesel engines. This includes engine-

N service this year carrying up a range of frequencies and voltage for estimated that the Norled Ampere needs room and structural-born noise that carry to 120 cars and 360 passengers across diesel, dual-fuel or gas-operated vessels, just 400 kW of power to cross the Sog- into passenger areas. That’s particularly the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Sognefjord chan- the Norled Ampere uses a custom-built, nefjord channel at 10 knots. The lighter true, given that diesel engines in conven- nel that separates Norway’s villages of all-electric model. This eliminates the weight also offsets the combined 11-ton tional ferries typically operate at full-

Lavik and Oppendal and empties into cost and emissions of the 264,000 gal- weight of the BlueDrive PlusC battery speed, generating the most noise and the North Atlantic’s Norwegian Sea. lons (one million liters) of diesel fuel packs – and the system itself saves 30 vibration.

The 260-ft. vessel recharges its dual that its predecessor’s 2,000-hp engine percent more space when compared to 450 kW/hour battery packs after each burned each year. In fact, the Norled traditional, constant speed systems. • Less maintenance and repairs, docking in less 10 minutes – faster than Ampere will annually keep 570 tons of Norled sees other bene? ts of the all- improving uptime and reduce oper- today’s smartphones and the turnarounds carbon dioxide and 15 tons of nitrogen electric, variable-speed propulsion sys- ating costs: With fewer moving parts, of many conventionally powered ferries. oxides out of the atmosphere. tem, including: more solid-state components and the

Operated by Norled, a Norwegian ship- elimination of diesel engines, the Norled ping company under license from the na- Designed for Ef? ciency • Fast response times to improve Ampere’s propulsion system requires tion’s Ministry of Transport, the Norled The Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand ferry operation, handling and safety: less maintenance, saving Norled labor

Ampere includes a Siemens BlueDrive AS designed the twin-hulled vessel, Intensive testing proves that even under costs and reducing spare-part inventory.

PlusC propulsion system that drives fore working with the Siemens Marine & variable speed control, the system sup- and aft screws. Shipbuilding propulsion team on the ports highly demanding dynamic posi- The Onshore Story

The system features a vessel energy- design and center-hull placement of its tioning. This is especially critical for the Ironically, the most interesting part of management subsystem, battery packs, BlueDrive PlusC gensets. The shipbuild- Norled Ampere’s safe docking opera- Norled Ampere’s propulsion package and vessel automation and control, in- er specializes in slim, lightweight alu- tions, when most accidents can happen. isn’t on the vessel – it’s on dry ground. cluding communication and control of minum hull designs, which the Norled One of the primary design challenges the shore power charging unit. This sys- Ampere uses. With this design, the hulls • Less noise and vibration to im- was solving for how the ferry could tem makes it fully automated and hands- weigh about half those of conventional prove the passenger experience: The charge its high-capacity battery packs free. catamaran ferries, further improving the all-electric system cuts the Norled Am- between crossings. Pulling a full charge 46 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2015

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