We all know about Hybrid cars.
But did you know that there are Hybrid ships too?
In fact, this is one of the most promising technologies that can change the landscape of marine carbon emissions and help achieve the IMO targets for carbon emissions.
Not to mention that the addition of batteries can increase the overall engine efficiency between 50% to 90% (according to the DNV GL Annual report 2015)
Hybridization can also reduce the total fuel consumption of the ship from 15% to 30%.
But what is hybridization?
To put it simply, hybridization is the addition of batteries as additional power storage and transfer medium.
There are three ways in which hybridization of ships can happen practically:
1. First is when ships go fully electric, using the addition of batteries and charging them while using shore power, a vessel can completely let go of conventional marine fuels. An excellent example of this is ferries. ABB has presented a concept of a completely electric ferry to transport travelers outside of Oslo to nearby Islands.
2. Plugin Hybrid ship: Another use case is when ships add batteries and charge them using the existing engines and shore power. A comparative example is plugin hybrid electric vehicles.
3. Conventional hybrid ships: These use batteries to offset the loads and don't require shore power to charge them.
There are four main benefits of hybridization:
1. Spinning reserve: Most large marine vessels use multiple generators to reduce redundancies in a power failure. This means that there is more power being generated than necessary. The addition of batteries as a spinning reserve eliminates this additional need for power since batteries can handle power fluctuations. This means fewer generators and hence less fuel.
2. Peak shaving: Most engines run optimally at a constant rpm; this means that when additional power is needed (for example, using onboard cranes), the engine's power has to be increased temporarily. The addition of batteries can handle such peak power needs.
3. Energy Harvesting: As said above, batteries can also be used as an energy storage medium. In the previous example of a crane, the additional power was supplied by the batteries when the crane was going up. However, when the crane is going down, this energy can be similarly stored in batteries.
4. Backup power (UPS): In the event of multiple engine failures, the batteries can provide an alternative energy source for critical systems on board.
#offshore #maritime #alternativeenergy #sustainability